Forest fire in Tochigi burns 76.5 hectares; still spreading

Didn't know there are so many fire fighting experts here.

So far throughout the world forest fires have always been difficult. The key have always be trying to prevent it in the first place.

Except there was no bucket and the helicopter released the water from inside. But it looked ridiculously tiny and missed the spot.

When fighting large fires, it’s pointless to try to extinguish the fire itself. Firefighters generally attempt to stop it from spreading by wetting the surrounding area and clear cutting fire-breaks and sometimes even “fighting fire with fire” by control burning downwind from the fire to rob it of fuel.

It is pathetic how NOTHING is known in Japan about aerial fire fighting!

Forest fires are rare in Japan, especially in the winter months. Using large tankers to fight forest fires requires special equipment and natural resources, like a large fresh water lake or a local airport equipped with a pumping station. Even on large fires in California or British Columbia where wild fires are quite common, helicopters with small buckets are used. The Japanese generally take great care of their forests, pruning and spacing trees etc. that help with eliminating the fuel load. It just happens to be a very dry winter in Eastern Japan and so these things can happen. No need to spend billions of yen on large air tankers. I think comments like yours are just ignorant.

Bruce WayneToday 09:28 am JST

It is pathetic how NOTHING is known in Japan about aerial fire fighting!

While I agree with what you said, it's more an issue of being able to react without having someone telling you to do. This morning (about 6:50) I saw in TV a group of firefighters, two cars, full gear, lights and stuff. And they were watching the fire in the distance in the mountains! The fire was still kilometres away in the mountains and they were in what seemed like a middle of a city. The next cut was a TV reporter reporting on-site. He could have been hundreds of metres away from a smoking bush. He was standing on a road. Made me wonder, why the firefighters werent there, instead of him.

Few days ago, I saw exactly what you said - "Helicopters carrying small buckets unstabilizing them on long slings underneath in the powerful thermals in a forest fire is about as effective as urinating on a house fire". Except there was no bucket and the helicopter released the water from inside. But it looked ridiculously tiny and missed the spot.

The thing here is, if a new, unexpected situation occurs, people often can't react on their own and wait for order from their superiors. No thinking in consequences, what may happen if XYZ.

In here, we often boast with 空気を読む, but in fact it's just a myth.

It is pathetic how NOTHING is known in Japan about aerial fire fighting! Were this not true 7000 people would still be alive not have burned to death in the conflagration of Kobe in '95.

Helicopters carrying small buckets unstabilizing them on long slings underneath in the powerful thermals in a forest fire is about as effective as urinating on a house fire.

Lake Kasumigausa is 10 minutes flight time for a CL415 DESIGNED from the OUTSET to wipe out forest fires and just two of them could be dumping 7000 liters of water every 5 minutes all day long choking the fire in no time. Which is why every civilized country uses it to great effect.

But writing this is all useless to people who have zero comprehension.