# What Could Superman Do to Fight Wildfires? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 16, 2020, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-superman-do-to-fight-wildfires/920801 "2020-09-16T23:49:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-superman-do-to-fight-wildfires/920801/62 "2020-09-22T21:37:48Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > You know, if you’re going to insist on non-comic physics being a factor here, the firefighters sitting on fire trucks that are suddenly jerked from zero to 7,200,000mph and back to 0mph again will _surely_ die, quite messily. Unless we’re going to acknowledge that unstated ‘tactile telekinesis’ superpower that he sometimes has? It would also nix the whole “grab an extremely huge object and assume it has infinite rigidity” category of solutions such as iceberg delivery. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-superman-do-to-fight-wildfires/920801/63 "2020-09-22T21:39:47Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > All comic book heroes have that. That’s why they can catch someone falling from any height right before they hit the ground. Well, _sometimes_ they include a effort to do some visible deceleration, but yeah, it seems that most content creators think that hitting something at freefall velocity is safer if the thing you hit is also going sideways at sixty miles an hour. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-superman-do-to-fight-wildfires/920801/64 "2020-09-22T21:46:11Z")
Ha! I lol’d. ---
**Author:** ![ZosterSandstorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e0b2c6/32.png) [@ZosterSandstorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZosterSandstorm)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-superman-do-to-fight-wildfires/920801/65 "2020-09-22T23:41:50Z")
They’re kept safe by the…uh…Speed Force. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-superman-do-to-fight-wildfires/920801/66 "2020-09-22T23:50:28Z")
Also, come to think of it, how does Flash move a fire truck? (Oh, wait, I remember! He runs around and around and creates a cyclonic vortex that lifts the truck.) “Never mind.” ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-superman-do-to-fight-wildfires/920801/67 "2020-09-23T03:06:58Z")
> [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > Superman can lift heavy objects and move at 7.2 million miles per hour. He could just ask all the firefighters in America to board their trucks and then place the trucks every 400 feet around the fire in a minute. Get the Flash to help and it goes even faster. What good is that going to do? Firefighters don’t fight fire with their bare hands. Or even gloved hands. They need water and the wildfires are out in the wilderness where there are no convenient fire hydrants. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-superman-do-to-fight-wildfires/920801/68 "2020-09-23T13:22:19Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > All comic book heroes have that. That’s why they can catch someone falling from any height right before they hit the ground. [All except Spiderman.](http://www.comicscube.com/2015/03/the-night-gwen-stacy-died-comprehensive.html) Wasn’t the shoot mini Supermen from his hands thing the result of encountering an alien artifact, and it wore off by the end of the issue? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-superman-do-to-fight-wildfires/920801/69 "2020-09-23T13:56:10Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > …I believe that the times have changed and Superman has been brought up to date. He also doesn’t sink Japanese ships. He hasn’t done that since Truman was President, I hope. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-superman-do-to-fight-wildfires/920801/70 "2020-09-23T14:23:37Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Wasn’t the shoot mini Supermen from his hands thing the result of encountering an alien artifact, and it wore off by the end of the issue? [Yes](https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Superman_Vol_1_125) , [confirmed](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/j4QXkzjfzpJCH8-xRHDvEzHGsna2oXwtO_k-OZyKegmjyCqRngk4HXeIu9OIze_4V5ikFgYFlF7W=s0) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-superman-do-to-fight-wildfires/920801/71 "2020-09-24T00:40:44Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > They need water and the wildfires are out in the wilderness where there are no convenient fire hydrants. I thought of that late last night… Do fire trucks have ANY on-board water tanks, or are they _wholly_ dependent on fire mains? I guess we’re back to flying in with a really big scoop/bucket/tank of lake water. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-superman-do-to-fight-wildfires/920801/72 "2020-09-24T11:07:05Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Do fire trucks have ANY on-board water tanks, or are they _wholly_ dependent on fire mains? Many don’t, but some do. They don’t call them ‘tanker trucks’ for nothing. Not all fires happen near water mains, especially outside of cities. They sometimes get water out of rivers or lakes, either directly or to refill the tanker on a larger fire. This is called ‘drafting’ IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2020, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-superman-do-to-fight-wildfires/920801/73 "2020-09-25T00:31:15Z")
Gracias! Ignorance fought. (I’d never heard of “tanker trucks” in fire-fighting, only in fuel and water delivery.) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-superman-do-to-fight-wildfires/920801/74 "2020-09-25T15:55:47Z")
They can also set up a temporary tank (which looks a lot like an above-ground swimming pool). Then, a convoy of tanker trucks will fill the pool, while regular fire trucks draw water from the pool. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-superman-do-to-fight-wildfires/920801/75 "2020-09-25T16:06:00Z")
Wikipedia tells me they are officially called “Water Tenders” and also reminds me that your typical “Fire Engine” whose main job is to pump water will typically have a small tank of water (several hundred gallons) onboard as well. “Ladder Trucks” may not carry water, but sometimes do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-superman-do-to-fight-wildfires/920801.md?page=3)