Thank you United States and Canada - From Australia

a reply to: xpert11

Fighting a big fire is more than just putting out the flames, but many people forget (or not even think) about it.

Tanker 102 left Tuesday for Australia. One of the RAAF C-17s carried spare parts down for the aircraft heading down. They were delayed due to the volcano in the Philippines. Tanker 102 is n MD-87, so is having to hop down. It's going through Alaska, Russia, Japan, and Guam. They are set to arrive Friday morning. He's in Narita today.

Tanker 912 and 914 were in Mobile undergoing C- Checks. They completed 912, but it needed a check flight in VFR conditions, and there was fog in Mobile that delayed that a couple days. They departed California today for Honolulu for fuel, then down to Australia. Tanker 914, and 103, another MD-87 depart next week.

A few years back, SE Washington state had a huge wild fire, one among many that summer all over the bloody place...

Among the fire fighters from all over the world were fire fighters/smoke jumpers from the OZ. Several of them were camped out in my yard for most of the summer. Nice guys doing a very dangerous job.

They helped a lot, and it wasn't forgotten. The businesses around town thanked them with free food and drink for the entirety of their stay.

We might have got through it without 'em, but it would have been much harder.

Thanks to everyone on ATS for their thoughts.

This is a report from Kangaroo Island. Really shows you how things are over there right now.

Tanker 912 is stuck in Honolulu. Their next leg was from Honolulu to Pago Pago, but Tropical Cyclone Tino is hanging around the area. There's not really a good second option for a fuel stop so they can't leave until the storm moves. Tanker 103 arrived yesterday.

A C-130 air tanker just crashed.

originally posted by: seagull
A few years back, SE Washington state had a huge wild fire, one among many that summer all over the bloody place...

Among the fire fighters from all over the world were fire fighters/smoke jumpers from the OZ. Several of them were camped out in my yard for most of the summer. Nice guys doing a very dangerous job.

They helped a lot, and it wasn't forgotten. The businesses around town thanked them with free food and drink for the entirety of their stay.

We might have got through it without 'em, but it would have been much harder.

That was a bad year, between the fires you guys had and the fires in the interior B.C., being stuck in the middle we were smoked out most of the summer.

a reply to: vonclod

It was.

I lived in the valley just northwest of the main fires...and at least 200 people had to be evac'd for breathing issues.

I'd come home from work and drive up over the crest of the valley, and it would be brown with smoke. Add to that one of the driest summers ever, and whoa.

The forest was absolutely destroyed, even the biggest, strongest trees were nothing but scorched stumps. You barely knew where you were, and I know that area like the back of my hand.

a reply to: seagull

I forget what year it was but we were at Moses Lake to go to the Fairchild air show, and despite being able to see the airport from our parking spot the aircraft landing there could barely be seen on very short final because of smoke.