News and opinion about wildland fire
The Nevada Yuba Placer Unit of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection recently received a large piece of fire suppression equipment. (Back in the old days we would lovingly refer to them as a Big Yellow McLeod.)
Here is how it is described by the agency:
CAL FIRE NEU took possession of a new 2018 D6N Caterpillar Dozer and 2019 International HX Series Transport.
The dozer has been modified with an extended track frame which helps with climbing and side hill performance. The engine compartment is configured with a 75 gallon water fire suppression system that can be activated by the operator for fires within the dozer. For operator safety the cab has a pressurized filtration environmental cab system and complete roll over protection system. An advanced lighting package will increase night time vision and allow safer operation under dusty and dark conditions.
The dozer and transport both have the CAL FIRE Automatic Vehicle Location System which operates from radio, satellite, and cellular.
The transport is has a Cummins X15 Performance motor that produces 605 Horse Power and 2050 lb-ft Torque. It is mounted to an 18 speed transmission.
Both Pieces of equipment will service the entire state but are based out of the Nevada City CAL FIRE Station.
One of the two operators assigned to this equipment will be Joe Kennedy recently made famous by videos showing his heroic efforts saving citizens at the Camp Fire in Paradise.
The other operator is Shawn Entz who is a fourth generation Nevada County resident who has over 20 years logging and firefighting in California.
If anyone has a link to the videos referred to above, let us know in a comment.
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After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire. View all posts by Bill Gabbert
A question for someone who knows about firefighting dozers. The blade seems different from the more common dirt moving sort found on most dozers. Is it specialized for fire fighting? and if so, what makes it special? Thanks in advance.
So… the blade commonly referred to as a “6-way Blade” allows the blade to move to any angle so material can slide off to the right or left. This allows the machine to move quickly without having to push out the brush every time it loads up. The ability to angle the blade left or right, up and down, and extra tilt, provides the ability to easily continue forward while keeping your “dirt” in front of the blade while sliding up and over some stumps and or rocks, thus providing the ability to just scrape the surface being gentle on the landscape. Additionally, it can assist in getting the tractor out if stuck or hung up on a stump for example, in a steep decent it can be used to assist in steering the dozer in the right direction. DJ
They call it a 6 way blade and it is pretty standard on the medium and small dozers. I have one on my dozer (BLM) and I love it because I can cast my berm on either side. That CalFire dozer also has added bars on the top of the blade so brush and logs don’t come over the top but you can still see through it.
Hi Bill,i think those videos may have been in that video/documentary the local woman did,cant remember the name of her or the doc,but i shared it with you at one point.may have just talked about it.
David — do you mean the documentary here?
yes that one,am i mistaken?……..most likely lol
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