The Role of Blivets in Remote Wildfire Suppression

Jun 18

Overview

Wildfires are increasingly becoming a significant threat to natural landscapes, properties, and lives across the globe. As these fires often occur in remote areas where access to water is limited, innovative solutions are essential for effective firefighting. One such solution is the use of blivets for delivering water in remote wildfire fighting operations.

What is a Blivet?

A blivet is a collapsible water container, typically made from heavy-duty, flexible materials like rubberized fabric. These containers can hold volumes of water ranging from 72 to 360 gallons. Blivets are designed to be durable, easy to transport, and simple to deploy, making them ideal for use in challenging and remote environments. Commercially, blivets are often referred to as Helicopter Tanks because they are typically transported by helicopter.

Why Use Blivets?

Portability: Blivets can be transported by various means, including helicopters, trucks, or even by hand in smaller capacities. When empty, they are lightweight and can be rolled or folded, allowing for efficient transport back from the fire.
Flexibility: These containers can be filled from various water sources, such as rivers, lakes, or portable water tanks. This flexibility ensures that firefighters can access water even in the most isolated regions.
Rapid Deployment: Setting up a blivet is straightforward and quick. Once at the location, it can be filled and made ready for use within minutes. This rapid deployment is crucial in firefighting, where every second counts.
Cost-Effective: Compared to building permanent water storage facilities or relying solely on traditional water delivery methods, blivets offer a cost-effective solution. They require minimal infrastructure and can be reused hundreds of times.

How Blivets are used in Remote Wildfire Suppression

Aerial Delivery: One of the primary methods of transporting blivets to remote fire sites is by helicopter. The blivets are filled at a nearby water source and then carried to the fire zone, where they can be strategically placed for firefighters to use. Helicopters equipped with a longline can deliver blivets directly to the fireground and can be placed right where the ground firefighters need them. Blivets are always placed on the ground, never dropped. They will roll if there is a slope. Having a person to secure the blivet before the helicopter detaches its line can be important and a rope is often tied to the blivet for easy securing to a tree in these cases.
Ground Transport: In areas where helicopters cannot reach, blivets can be transported by all-terrain vehicles or trucks. This method is particularly useful when the terrain allows for vehicle access but is too difficult for traditional water tanks to navigate.
Support for Ground Crews: Once deployed, blivets serve as a vital water source for ground crews fighting the fire. Firefighters use gravity to drain the blivets through the discharge hose.
Refilling Tanks and Pumps: Blivets can also be used to refill other firefighting equipment, such as portable water tanks, backpack pumps, and other water dispensing tools. This capability is crucial for maintaining prolonged firefighting efforts in remote areas.

Conclusion

In the battle against wildfires, especially in remote and inaccessible areas, blivets play a crucial role. Their portability, flexibility, and rapid deployment capabilities make them an essential tool for modern firefighting teams. By providing a reliable source of water, blivets help firefighters to control and extinguish fires more effectively, ultimately saving lives, properties, and natural resources. As wildfires continue to pose a growing threat, the importance of innovative solutions like blivets cannot be overstated.

The best thing about blivets is that they allow the ground firefighters to use the water very efficiently. With a conventional helicopter bucket drop, all the water hits the ground at once and is essentially used at that point. With a blivet, firefighters can use the water sparingly. Taking hours or even days to go through 72 gallons of water, as opposed to seconds.

Joel Wright

FOL-DA-TANK President

June 2024

Joel Wright