Caylym’s Guardian Aerial Fire Fighting System making significant advances in Europe. Is there a role in the US?
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Fresno California – July 31, 2014 As Wildfires rage on in California and Washington, there is good news on the horizon for the firefighting community. At the request of the Italian air force, representatives from Caylym flew to Pisa, Italy and conducted a week of testing and training with the Italian Air Force’s versatile C-27J Spartan. “The tests went as well as we could have hoped for.” Said James Taddock, Caylym’s Chief Operations Officer. “The crews were excited and engaged to adopt this aerial firefighting mission; there was a celebratory buzz around the base.”
Fresno based Caylym Technologies has been developing the Guardian Aerial Firefighting system for over ten years. “Progress and been encouraging and steady.” Said Rick Goddard, President of Caylym. “This effort has been born out of my own experiences as a resident in California. For years I’ve seen these dedicated firefighters battle to save homes and property. They need help and Caylym is looking to come alongside and join the fight.”
The Italian’s are the second air force to adopt the Guardian system. It will also be used by the European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism, which is the equivalent to America’s FEMA. “The gains in Europe have been fantastic and it looks like the news is going to continue to get better throughout the rest of the year. It is just difficult to be here in Italy and watch the news about California and its neighboring states burning.”
Caylym’s advances have not gone unnoticed here in the states. The Guardian is slowly working its way through the approval process so that it may be used on military cargo planes. Though there is great excitement for some the process has been too slow. California’s Assemblyman, Jim Patterson said, “Around the time of the California Rim Fire last year I was introduced to Caylym and immediately saw the potential that the Guardian system had in combating catastrophic wildfire. Since that time I and my office have worked to advocate for the adoption of this type of wildfire fighting system to both our state and federal wildfire fighting agencies. Unfortunately, the response from both CalFire and the US Forest Service as of yet has been less than I would have hoped. But with the recent adoptions in Europe as well as the support by the US military, I am optimistic that CalFire and the US Forest Service will come around soon.”
The Guardian is a unique patented corrugated paper-based liquid bulk container which can hold over one ton of water or retardant. These recyclable boxes are then loaded into common cargo aircraft with a rear ramp and dropped over fires using standard US Air Force Container Delivery System (CDS) protocols that the military has been using for decades. When the boxes exit the aircraft they descend and then open at a lower altitude to release the liquid contents in an overlapping pattern creating an instant soaking rain cloud. The C-27J Spartan can carry six Guardian units (1,584 gallons) and the C-130 Hercules can carry sixteen (4,224 gallons). These types of cargo planes can be immediately placed into action because there are no modifications required to the aircraft to accommodate and safely deploy the Guardian system. POC: Garrett Miller