Wildfires have been devastating the Los Angeles area for the past week, burning down over 12,000 structures in an area of over 60 square miles, resulting in the deaths of at least 25 people.
A Fresno company has a firefighting technology that could help save lives when future disasters strike, but the federal government needs to take action to allow the technology to be used across the nation.
The big picture: Caylym Technologies, operated by Rick Goddard, specializes in the Guardian Containerized Aerial Fire Fighting System (CAFFS).
- Guardian CAFFS consists of airdrop-capable disposable containers for water or fire retardant.
- The system can be used in any cargo plane and does not require any aircraft modifications. The system could take use of the over 300 C-130 aircraft owned by the Air Force and Air Guard.
Why it matters: The typical system used in aerial firefighting is the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS).
- MAFFS hold 3,000 gallons of water or retardant, which are dropped at an altitude of around 150 to 200 feet at max speed of 140 knots.
- CAFFS allows a C-130 aircraft to deliver 4,000 gallons of retardant at an altitude of 500 feet. According to Goddard, the aircraft have had speeds of up to 170 knots when dropping the fire retardant.
- CAFFS is also able to be utilized at any time of day.
Flashback: Representatives David Valadao (R–Hanford) and Jim Costa (D–Fresno) introduced the Emergency Wildfire Fighting Technology Act in 2013.
- That bill would have required the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior to conduct an evaluation of CAFFS, which would have led to the Forest Service being allowed to use new technologies – such as CAFFS – to fight wildfires.
- The bill passed the House but was never taken up in the Senate.
Zoom out: Caylym Technologies has its CAFFS system used across many countries throughout the world, namely in Brazil and other South American countries, Eastern Europe, Israel and Southeast Asia.
What they’re saying: Speaking to The Sun, Goddard praised the job the firefighters are doing to combat the fires in the Los Angeles area, adding that Caylym’s system would be another tool to use for future fires if approved by the federal government.
- “We’re not saying we’re better than anybody,” Goddard said. “We just fill a lane that is not being filled right now.”
- Goddard wants to see the people responsible for regulating aerial fire fighting to consider other alternatives to help out in future disasters.
- “I saw with my aviation background that the current tanker aircraft are great, but we don’t have enough of them. And they generally don’t operate at night,” Goddard said. “So that was the opportunity we invested around. How do we use existing airframes doing something they do all the time – which is air delivery – and how do we do it where we can take back the night?”
Watch: The Guardian CAFFS system can be seen in action in the following video:
