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Context:

• Indian Air Force’s MI 17 V5 helicopter with Bambi Bucket was deployed to extinguish the raging forest fires in Nainital district, Uttarakhand

Details:

• A “Bambi Bucket”, also known as a helicopter bucket or a helibucket, to collect water from Bhimtal Lake, located near Nainital, and poured it over the burning forests.

What is a Bambi Bucket?

• It is a specialized aerial firefighting tool that has been in use since the 1980s.
• It is essentially a lightweight collapsible container that releases water from underneath a helicopter to targeted areas. The water is released by using a pilot-controlled valve.
• It can be quickly and easily filled from various sources, including lakes and swimming pools, which allows firefighters to swiftly refill it and return to the target area.
• It is available in a variety of sizes and models, with capacities ranging from 270 litres to more than 9,840 liters.

How was the Bambi Bucket invented?

• The Bambi Bucket was invented by Don Arney, a Canadian business, in 1982.
• Arney came up with the idea after he realized that the aerial firefighting water buckets in use at the time were not efficient and had a high failure rate.
• In 2017, Arney was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame for the invention of the Bambi Bucket.

Disadvantages of Conventional water buckets:

• They were generally made of “solid fiberglass, plastic, or canvas with metal frames” and were “too rigid to fit inside the aircraft” and had to be “trucked to fire sites or flown in on the hook of a helicopter thereby slowing the aircraft down.
• Another issue was that the water dropped from these containers used to get dispersed into a spray thereby reducing impact.

Advantage of Bambi Bucket over them:

• Bambi Bucket does not have these limitations.
• One, it can be stored within the helicopter until development.
• Two, it discharges a solid column of water, “resulting in a more accurate and effective water dump, less evaporation on the descent, and greater impact force.

Conclusion:

• Today, Bambi Bucket is used in more than 115 countries around the world by more than 1,000 helicopter operators.

Refer to the video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH5-m_DO5H0

Source:

Indian Express

Practice Question Q.Which of the following statements about Bambi Buckets used in aerial firefighting are correct? 1. Bambi Buckets are rigid containers made of fiberglass, plastic, or canvas with metal frames. 2. Bambi Buckets can only be filled from lakes and swimming pools, limiting their water source options. 3. Bambi Buckets discharge water in a solid column, resulting in less evaporation and greater impact force compared to conventional buckets. 4. Bambi Buckets are stored outside the helicopter until needed, as they are too rigid to fit inside the aircraft. Which of the above statements is/ are correct? A) 1 and 2 B) 3 and 4 C) 1, 3, and 4 D) All of the above Answer: C) Explanation: Statement 1 is incorrect: ●Bambi Buckets are lightweight collapsible containers, not rigid ones. They are typically made of durable materials like synthetic fabrics and plastics, designed to collapse when empty to minimize storage space. Statement 2 is incorrect: ●Bambi Buckets can be filled from various sources, including lakes, rivers, ponds, reservoirs, and even swimming pools. This flexibility allows firefighters to quickly refill them from whichever water source is available near the fire site. Statement 3 is correct: ●Bambi Buckets are equipped with a pilot-controlled valve that allows for precise control over the release of water. They discharge water in a solid column rather than dispersing it into a spray, which helps minimize evaporation during descent and ensures a more concentrated and impactful water drop. Statement 4 is correct: ●Bambi Buckets are collapsible and compact when empty, allowing them to be stored outside the helicopter until they are needed for firefighting operations. Once filled with water, they are suspended beneath the helicopter and can be released and refilled as necessary during firefighting missions.