Yes our fires are different, whether this dictates different strategies and tactics for fire fighting is up to the experts and in recent years I have flown several visiting groups of experts from various states in the US on tours of the Victorian fire sites, along with local experts in forrestry, fire fighting and meteorology. I types of fires that we can get can be very different to the North American experience and they even learn from us in some instances.
Many US aerial fire fighting agencies have fixed wing Single Engine Air Tanker fleets, AT 802s etc they don't all have aerial armardas of DC8s circling the state waiting for a whisp of smoke.
I am not so sure that the CL412 is ideal for aussie fires, though around Sydney where they have access to plenty of water they could be a worthy asset.
I can remember the Con-Air FireCats that Freddo intended to bring over to Victoria to augment the 212 helitack bombers and was way keen to get a slot flying them, but it all caved in before it could happen. I flew bird dog for the ConAir F27 on a local fire whilst it was out here. very exciting at the time but a fire in the same area 2 years ago was much better attacked by the Droms that are based down here these days.
Large aircraft have been tried on numerous occaisions in Aus but the proven formula is the present one of first strike by SEAT or helitack assets with the flexibility to re distribute assetts quickly to different fires or regions as required. I have worked up over the High Plains for days on end where there have been 4 or major fires that were being attacked from 3 different bases by about 6 f/w SEAT and about 8 bigger helos including AirCrane, Mil, Sikorsky and several Bell 212s. I cannot see that a couple of large aircraft could have been better in this instance.
Having said that, there are several ex RAN trackers rotting away just down the road that could be converted if the need and will was actually there.
HD