By FireRescue 1 Staff
SAN DIEGO — CAL FIRE officials released a video showing the dangers and stunning sight of a CAL FIRE S-2 aircraft demonstrating a low drop.
In the video, the aircraft drops 9,000 pounds of fire retardant on an SUV, causing the roof and trunk to collapse, 7 San Diego reported. Officials posted the video to show residents the danger of being around a fire zone where a LAT or VLATS are in the area dousing fires.
Firefighters are also warned to stay at least 50 feet away from the drop zone. VLATs can drop up to 170,000 pounds of retardant and can cover an area 130-feet wide, while LATs can cover an area 95-feet wide.
“When we start to place LAT and VLATs into the picture, those folks on the ground need to be very, very aware of their surroundings and the risk that is involved with having helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft assigned to the fire,” Battalion Chief Justin McGough said.