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Posted on 07/22/2007 4:06:32 AM PDT by JohnA
Jul 22 2007 9:47AM
MOSCOW. July 22 (Interfax) - A Russian Ilyushin Il-76 TD water- bomber, urgently dispatched to Bulgaria's Staraya Zagora, began a fire- fighting mission at 8 a.m. on Sunday, Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov told Interfax.
"At the request of the Bulgarian government, the ministry has sent an Il-76 water bomber capable of carrying 42 tonnes of water to Bulgaria," Beltsov said.
Forest fires raging near Staraya Zagora are threatening to spread to populated areas, he said.
The ministry will dispatch helicopter water bombers to Greece on July 24 and 25 to battle forest fires outside Athens, Beltsov said. sd
That’s over 11,000 gallons of water or a weight of 92,594 lbs...
That’s hard to believe.
I’m not supposed to do any tubthumping on behalf of Global Emergency Response here but there is a legitimate grievance on behalf of the US victim community and the taxpayer which should be taken up further by your reporters.
The IL-76 in it’s different variants-can carry a payload from 40 to upto 60 tonnes.
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Look, I LIVE here in Stara Zagora. This stuff is normal. 3 yrs. ago there were wild fires on both sides of the city. No brush is ever cleared, the fire trucks are from the 1960s, & it is one VERY hot summer.
I just hope the guys flying this thing know what to do...
Cookin’in Stara Zagora
Looked Stara Zagora up in Google. Looks like Southern California. Been part of civilization for a very, very long time.
Yep. Not supposed to do any tubthumping for Global Emergency Response anymore. I wrote that.
Yes it has, but the people running Bulgaria have NO clue what to do. An example from last week... A certain newspaper was running photos of huge potholes in Sofia. It embarrassed the mayor to do something. So, he sends in pothole fillers. One neighborhood had a very bad road that said “workers” started filling the holes in. There were several Mafia lords living on the street & they send out their goons to run the pothole guys away, flashing their pistols. And, what did the gov’t do about it? NOTHING! Not ONE thing moves in this country w/o consent of the Mafia. Sad but true.
My other gripe is the way they urinate away foreign aid. One example. A few years ago they decided to repave a walking street in town called Czar Simeon Veliki. They did so, but then dug up the street, a few weeks later to install some new pipes. Happened 3x! Hey, as long as they are using EU money, they could care less.
Nice quiet city though. Just wish that they could manage to keep the water on 24/7 though. The fires? No big deal. Happens every few summers.
Most people here have even heard of the Ruskies sending in said water bomber. And most don’t really care either...
Look on your google at Hristo Botev Street, northeast of the train station, & here we are at 130 Hristo Botev.
Missionaries working w/ International Teams
A couple of dozen of these in formation could be a lot of help in a major fire.
What was the IL76 orginially designed for?
Yes, the worst thing about the fires is the smoke & all of the lines of people trying to BBQ mushrooms (a BG tradition...) in ‘em.
Besides IF any homes do burn (there are few houses here, mostly ugly gray apartments made from Russian crayons (or concrete), since they are on the outskirts of the city, they are mostly Mafia big shots places. Will be interesting to see the results Monday AM.
Outta here...
I couldn’t get GoogleMaps to respond to the city, let alone the address but I use it all the time here in Calgary....e.g. to find the local address of a Bulgarian gal I taught how to drive. She was exceptional, showing great presence of mind on Crowchild Trail in the middle of a snowstorm. Needless to say, she passed the driver ed course
Tell that to the US Forest Circus.
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The IL-76 turbofan jet cargo aircraft is by far the world's most formidable, fastest, longest-range, air tanker. For fire fighting and ocean oil spill dispersal, as well as for dispersion on (e.g.) chemicals plants in upset conditions, it comes outfitted with a twin-tank system capable of carrying either 100,000 or 135,000 pounds of liquid and can be filled and ready for takeoff in 15 minutes. In its smaller 100,000 pound version, this patented system is capable of depositing more than 3,608-3,937 ft x 263-295 ft of liquid in one 8-10 second pass - water only - and one 15-20 second pass with foam additive. This is up to five (5) times greater than the volume deliverable by the largest-volume "water bomber" commonly used in the world today. (source: actual observed data from Australian test)
