Originally Posted by
MickG0105
https://youtu.be/rVd4KwoqXhg
As usual, Juan raises a good point - what exactly was the mission? Why was a very expensive bit of kit deployed to a fire in what is essentially uninhabited scrubland?
Ever since the Black Saturday Royal Commission there has been an big focus in Australia on keeping fires small and hitting them hard as fast. It's why Victoria now uses what is called PDD (Pre-determined dispatch) where aircraft are deployed to all Grass and Scrub fires at the same time as the first truck. (If you call 000 an aircraft will respond).
LATs play this role by hitting fires in remote country and helping contain them before they are a threat to property. Just this year the Victorian LATs (an RJ85 and Q400) have been deployed multiple times to lightning strike fires in the Big Desert National park in the states NW. And have in the past been used on tiny fires (less than a few sqm) in remote alpine areas in the far east. They also become cost-effective when the reduce the number of flights required by Air tractors and commitment of ground resources.