AS FIREFIGHTERS struggled to defeat the wildfires sweeping across Colorado last week, plans were emerging for a new, more efficient way of fighting such fires from the air.
Drop-planes and helicopters with their small water bombs can only cover small areas at each pass because their water supply is limited. They also have to fly dangerously low to have any effect at all, as water dropped from high altitude evaporates before it can get to the flames.
Now Ralph Pope and his team at Wetzone Engineering, a company based in Huntingdon Beach, California, think they have a better idea. Water…
