The Public's suggestions

[NJFFSA16]

Wanted: Ideas for snuffing out large fire....I suggest a giant pot cover to fit 500 sq. miles...lift it up over the entire fire and drop it...thus, suffocating the fire.
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DENVER (AP) - Dropping bombs, making snow and using blimps as
aerial water sprinklers are among suggestions state and federal
officials have received from the public for fighting Colorado's
wildfires.
People as far away as Holland with backgrounds as varied as
homemakers and university professors have called officials with
their ideas or sent suggestions by e-mail or illustrated letters.
One person suggested that firefighters use giant sheets of
Teflon, the material used in nonstick cooking surfaces, to keep
flames at bay. Officials said the writer included color
illustrations.
Another person said crews could line up jet engines to blow the
fires out.
No matter how creative the suggestions, officials thank the
callers for their concern and desire to help.
"We try to respond to everyone and appreciate their ideas,"
said Polly White, spokeswoman for the Colorado Office of Emergency
Management. "We'll put their idea to the appropriate agency and
they'll decide what to do with it."
One caller asked why Colorado's ski industry had not mobilized
its snowmaking equipment to shower the fires with artificial
flakes. Snowmaking machines work only in cold conditions.
An e-mail suggested shelling the fires with 500-pound bombs from
B-52 airplanes to suffocate the flames. If that failed, the writer
said, the resulting craters would form a fire line.
"They're really serious with their desire to help," said Lynn
Young, spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service in the Rocky Mountain
Region, and recipient of several ideas.
He said one person said in an e-mail that officials should fill
Goodyear blimps with water and then poke holes in them so the
airships could sprinkle the flames below. The writer did not
explain how a water-filled blimp could fly.
A Colorado man recently wrote Gov. Bill Owens insisting that
wildfires could be controlled only with military tactics. He
suggested placing avalanche cannons on mountain ridges to
continuously lob fire-retardant-filled shells into dry or burning
forests.
Young said he tells everybody with suggestions their ideas will
be reviewed.
"Hey, you never know," White said.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press

[Temptaker]

hehe... These would all work in the 'you know your in trouble at the station if' thread. Wow.

I especially like the jet idea. Hmmm... please can we line up jets, which carry jet fuel, in the line of a fire, and start the engines to blow it out.

Obviously missed the portion of the news that say "Fires Spread by High WINDS"