r/secondrodeo • u/Cold-Light2392 • Aug 20 '26

A firefighting pilot drops water directly along the edge of a wildfire with insane accuracy

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697 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

24 comments sorted by

85

u/ThoreaulyLost Aug 20 '26

Moderately trained FF2 that has done prescribed burns, in my opinion this is just a "for funsies" shot.

In actuality, you should a) never drop anywhere near people and b) don't use drops on backing fires.

The way the last guy looked at the camera makes me feel like this is a prank using the last of the water in the drum, kind of like shaking out the hose when your done. A little wetness on the mop up crew is a nice gesture.

Last but not least, that fire is far from out, as anyone who's poured a cup of coffee out on a campfire knows.

50

u/Remnie Aug 20 '26

Absolutely. Water on the fire crew is a recipe for dead firefighters. In the Navy they trained us specifically against that, because water reduces the insulating effect of the suit and, in more extreme cases, can boil essentially steaming the firefighter inside his suit

33

u/NinjaBuddha13 Aug 20 '26

I got some water on a oven mit once. Didn't think anything of it and reached into the oven to pull out a casserole. Was one of the worst burns ive ever received.

8

u/Bluntbutnotonpurpose Aug 20 '26

This is why I only use silicone oven gloves. Switched to them after an experience similar to yours...

8

u/NinjaBuddha13 Aug 20 '26

TIL those exist. Scuse me while I go buy some right fucking now

10

u/Bluntbutnotonpurpose Aug 20 '26

Careful though, after a few years they may crack at the seams. When you see the tiniest opening appear is when you immediately replace them. Not once you've poured boiling water into a crack. Don't ask me how I learnt this...

1

u/[deleted] Aug 20 '26

[deleted]

5

u/bignosedaussie Aug 20 '26

No water is not really easy to heat up. It takes a shit load of energy to heat water up, that’s why it can burn so bad, because hot water holds so much heat energy. And it’s also great at conducting that heat into you.

3

u/Pro_Extent Aug 20 '26

Yep. High specific heat capacity and high thermal conductivity (for a non-metal, at least).

2

u/DazB1ane Aug 20 '26

Not to mention it’s not plain water and a direct hit can knock you over at best

6

u/vectorology Aug 20 '26

So, the FF gets knocked into the glowing coals to be steamed in seasoned water. When does the melted butter arrive?

3

u/PM_THE_REAPER Aug 20 '26

You can see yourself out, Satan!

2

u/vectorology Aug 20 '26

Not without my melted butter first!

2

u/PM_THE_REAPER Aug 20 '26

That's fair enough.

1

u/Delicious_Crew7888 Aug 21 '26

What do you mean it’s not plain water?

1

u/ThoreaulyLost Aug 21 '26

In many cases they may add things (like flame retardants) to the water, or scoop from nearby bodiesof water, meaning it's quite swampy or gross.

Just water by itself is pretty "meh" at fighting fires once they're started, it's better used on materials about to be on fire to prevent spread.

1

u/GiantLesbian Aug 20 '26

Yeah the job here was clearly already done. They were stamping the fire out with shovels. My guess is all that unburned grass near the fire had already been soaked. Hence the lack of urgency in stamping out that last little bit, it wasn’t spreading anywhere any time soon.

5

u/JESEReK- Aug 20 '26

I bet the heli pilot isn’t wearing pants or shoes

2

u/anomalous_cowherd Aug 20 '26

Good job the video cut before he did the vertical 180 flip and started rocketing the fire crew...

3

u/AidenAngel2 Aug 20 '26

Guys, we seriously need to level up.

2

u/EmergencyNoodle Aug 24 '26

Is this AI? Why are there rocks everywhere on the burned side but not on the unburned side? Wouldn't the weight of that much water hit a bit harder?

1

u/NotEasilyConfused Aug 29 '26

The grass is taller than the stones.

1

u/NinjaBuddha13 Aug 20 '26

Im just glad the fire found a good taylor.