The Idea of a Wildland Firefighting Mod

[bearclawgrizzsnap]

When you first read this, you might be wondering simply "why". And that is a fair question to ask since Arma like the name might suggest is an "Army" simulator and not a firefighting one, and you would be entirely right to think that but first hear me out. Arma operations typically involve marching from point A to point B, clearing a certain objective of hostiles and moving on continuing to do such for an hour or two. Now typically, structural firefighting games can get boring. There is something boring about just pulling a hoseline from a truck and putting out fires in the same buildings to some people. As there us typically nothing dynamic with those mods, but what I am talking about is this. Imagine, a massive wildfire is about to go through a community and you and your crew are the only ones able to try and save it from the flame front. You are given objectives by the incident commander, prepare Homes A and B while another squad prepares to defend other homes from the flames. You go hard, digging your own breed of firefighting fortifications. Digging Firelines, spraying areas ahead of the fire and so one, until finally you too have to head out to a safety zone. Wondering if your efforts were in vain. Depending on your work you will see the community either spared or die due to the flamefront. Now you might be thinking "well, that's cool but that can get boring too" and once again you are not wrong for thinking that. But once again, allow me to paint a picture.

There are so many different jobs in the Forest Fire Service. Just a few of them as well as a basic description are as follows

Fire Lookout- Spots Fires from a Lookout Tower and reports it accordingly, depending on the jurisdiction/agency they may act as a dispatcher for fire units.

Fire Warden- Typically in charge of enforcing the state's Forest Fire Code, as well as managing a predetermined section of land that can encompass multiple jurisdictions. The Fire Warden typically patrols around his section daily, responding to as well as reporting wildfires as well as illegal open burns. The Fire Warden typically acts as an incident commander for forest fire emergencies in his section, but can also be hands on as well depending on the nature of the emergency. In some areas they are sworn law enforcement officers.

Deputy Fire Warden- Assists the Fire Warden during times of high fire danger, and can either accompany the fire warden or patrol from his own vehicle. Typically, a deputy is not a sworn law enforcement officer, however they can write citations for infractions that can be approved by the fire warden. Can be a Crew Boss/Supervisor.

Crew Boss/ Supervisor- Wildland Firefighter equal of a squadleader for a handcrew (or engine crew) of firefighters. These are the ones who are directly responsible for leading their men/women to fight the various fires they encounter.

Assistant Crew Boss/ Assistant Supervisor- Assists the Crew Boss/ Supervisor in managing a handcrew, acting like a second in command.

Hand Crews- The Backbone of the Wildland Fire Service. Hand Crews are the equal to what the infantry is to the armed forces. They are typically split into different levels, with Hotshot being the highest level and Type II being the lowest (With Type II Initial Attack being the middle). Have a Fire 2 miles into the woods from the road? Hand crews are the ones you need. Though they might be slow working compared to other assets, their role in saving millions of acres of woodland can't be denied.

Engine Crew- Either operating big engines or small brush trucks, when applicable are able to utilize their water tanks to put out fires. Their limit though is in their water capacity and their size.

UTVs- The Benefits of a Fire Engine with the mobility of a handcrew, UTV's and the typical 2 man team that operates them can really make a difference. However, their small water supply has many disadvantages and are still limited by terrain.

Bull Dozers- The Fireline Digging God; Bull Dozers can make wide fire breaks in less time than an average handcrew and do not tire as easily (lol). However, like many other things they are limited by their size but in particular their speed.

Helicopter Resources- Whether dropping off firefighters, supplies, buckets of water onto a fire or rescuing people. There are many uses for a Helicopter on a forest fire scene.

Fixed Wing Support- The Ultimate Air Support; Fixed Wing Aircraft are the ones typically responsible for dropping large amounts of water or fire retardant onto massive forest fires.

Smoke Jumpers- The toughest and bravest of the Forest Fire Service, Smoke Jumpers parachute into remote areas and typically fight fires with whatever they parachute in with and whatever can be airdropped to them.

(Though not a Forest Service role, these can also help)
Local Volunteer Fire Agencies- Almost Every town in the U.S has some sort of Fire Protection even if it is from another town, typically out west Local Fire Departments do not get called for forest fires unless there is a risk of it spreading to structures. With this in mind their apparatus and manpower can be used to protect structures while the forest firefighters are in the woods slowing the fires spread.

First Aid Squads- Transport and stabilize injured civilians and firefighters from a fire scene.

All of these roles are good in name, but what can you do with all of them? How would an operation work exactly? It could look like the following;

On a "EXTREME" Fire Danger day, A Fire Lookout while scanning the woods around his tower observes a column of smoke. He then calls the area's fire warden informing him of it's area. The Fire Warden with this information, responds, informing his deputy of the situation and tells him to response as well. They arrive at the base of a mountain, with a smoke column revealing itself from the top. The Fire Warden realizing the potential danger of the fire, reports his findings. Calling for a handcrew to respond. He also asks for a helicopter to start doing drops on it to control it's spread as it is a long, steep, and grueling hike to the top. The Handcrew upon reaching the top report their findings and begin to put the fire out, asking for a UTV to assist.

A Careless Cigarette tossed out of a window on the side of a highway causes a small fire on the shoulder. 911 call centers inform the fire warden of the fires and he responds with his deputy in his brush truck. When they get on scene the fire is spreading into a farmer's field and he requests the local FD respond to protect the farmer's endangered barn and an Engine crews to attack the flanks of the fire before it spreads.

Dry Lightning causes a tree to catch fire, and a fire lookout observing this realizing how remote the fire is notifies the area's fire warden that smoke jumpers should be deployed. The Smoke Jumpers are informed of the "Fire Mission", load up onto a plane, and after quickly scouting it from the air parachute out and regroup on the ground to fight the flames.

With all of this being said, I would love to get the arma community's opinion on this idea as a whole. And see if I am the only one that would enjoy something like this or if others would apperciate it.

[MajorBarf]

I like the idea of some variety that reflects the sort of roles the military are frequently called upon to supply these days. It doesn't necessarily have to be fire fighting. There is evacuation of civilians, logistics support, security for firemen doing their job (often happened in Northern Ireland during the troubles there) - when there's a fireman or paramedic strike in the UK, the army are deployed to cover for them, vaccinations (or testing - a very topical subject atm).

[Nomad924]

I mean, the idea is great but I dont think is actually possible to givo movement to the Fire in Arma 3. Im sure that someone will have already created by now a mod where fire can Spread or even being put off. And there is no point in making a whole mod with water mechanics if fire is just not "Alive". On the other hand, in order to make a mission with a "medium to large" fire, the FPS will drop to such a level that the mission will simply not be able to be played by anyone. Still, good concept and maybe in a future game this is actually possible

[El Berl]

Nomad924 eredeti hozzászólása:

I mean, the idea is great but I dont think is actually possible to givo movement to the Fire in Arma 3. Im sure that someone will have already created by now a mod where fire can Spread or even being put off. And there is no point in making a whole mod with water mechanics if fire is just not "Alive". On the other hand, in order to make a mission with a "medium to large" fire, the FPS will drop to such a level that the mission will simply not be able to be played by anyone. Still, good concept and maybe in a future game this is actually possible

A firespreading system does exist in MCC. It runs fairly well for what it does, although I'm unsure if it integrates with SCMod - one of the current top firefighting mods.

[Lötek]

If anyone is interested in doing something like this. I do this for a living ( I am a WFOT-1) and I would be willing to work on a project like this. as an artist or programmer.

[James Finn (reformed¿)]

We're so back