The space shuttle was built over thirty years ago with heat resistant tiles that allowed it to survive incredible temperatures reentering earth’s atmosphere.
Why can’t we build a mobile shelter for Forest Firefighters? Think of a UHaul trailer. Build a box 3 feet high, 7 feet wide and 7 feet long. Use a composite board material and cover it in the heat resistant tiles. Maybe a small bottle of oxygen inside? They could use a fire resistant door gasket like they did on the shuttle.
If the space shuttle can survive thousand degree temps then why can’t this mobile trailer survive a flash fire passing over it?
Our firefighters deserve a mobile shelter like this. Six or seven guys could fit in the trailer I described. Three trailers would save the entire team. The fire would pass over in just a few minutes. It might be cramped in the trailer but they’d survive.
A trailer can be towed behind any pickup truck or utility truck. Some ATV’s might even tow a trailer if it is lightweight enough. It’s just a 3x7x7 empty box on wheels. I don’t know how heavy the shuttle tiles were.
Because wildfires take place in the wild, places that are not accessible by road, especially not for a trailer. Fires are incredibly fast-moving and dangerous. What are you going to hook this trailer up to–a truck that will be a huge danger when engulfed by flames? Who’s going to move it? How are they going to keep it safely near the firefighters when the fire is moving at many miles per hour? How much is it going to cost to keep hundreds of these shelters moving around all across the western states through fire season? In places that are very frequently extremely remote and rural and not very accessible, even by off-road vehicles?
Sorry OP, your suggestion seems pretty naive to how fighting fires actually works.
The hotshots that were killed in AZ did have protective cocoon like shelters that at best gives them a 50/50 shot at surviving, if they can get into it quick enough.
One, I’d imagine that in a majority of the cases the terrain is far too steep or the vegetation too dense to get a large vehicle like you describe (especially 3 of them) in to an effective place.
Two, currently shelters aren’t deployed until there are no other options available whatsoever. So last minute, how are you going to get this to wherever it’s suddenly needed?
They’d have to haul the trailer where ever they went. A Kawasaki mule would pull it.
Safety drills would cut the time it takes for 6 guys to crawl into a 3x7x7 trailer. I’d think they could do it in 2 to 3 minutes with practice. Probably 2 minutes because they’d be highly motivated.
You want to save fire fighter lives? The solution isn’t technology it’s policy. Stop trying to stop every fire. Forests need to burn and fairly regularly in order for the eco system to stay healthy.
There should be some kind of decision matrix or at the very least controlled burns during times when winds are not making things more hazardous.
The tiles on the Orbiter were exceptionally light. They were also extremely expensive; NASA indicates that one square foot of tiled surface, installed, cost about $10,000*.
The surface area of your 3x7x7 trailer would be 182 square feet; that’s $1.82 million dollars worth of tiles.
Also, those tiles were also extremely fragile; it was common for an Orbiter to require having a number of tiles replaced after each flight. Tiles that fragile would be impractical on a trailer that’s being pulled through wooded areas; the trailer would undoubtedly bang against trees or other obstacles, which would undoubtedly damage the tiles.
Even if you were to set aside the idea of those tiles (which would probably be overkill for the job at hand), you still have to deal with the fact, as several have already pointed out, that anything which a firefighter can’t carry on his person may be impractical.
I’m glad I’m not the only person thinking this. Even if you and I are the only assholes who agree.
Wildfires are a necessary part of forest ecology. I’m all for starting controlled burns in the off-season (maybe from helicopters or with a nearby helicopter or something, so they can GTFO ASAP, IDK, IANAF, YMMV).
There is. Doing exactly what you propose has been routine policy for decades. There are lots and lots of natural fires that are allowed to burn uncontrolled. I haven’t read much about this particular fire, but I believe I heard that houses were at risk. Firefighters are always deployed to save homes, and decisions about where to send them are always made with their safety the first priority. Sadly, these policies and procedures are not and never will be perfect.
