Fighting Forest Fires in Calabria with Canadair

34 CommentsMonday • July 9, 2007 • by michelle

It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s a ship…

It’s all three! In one photo!

Trust me, they’re all there if you look closely enough.

The plane in question is one that drops water on raging forest fires — a “Canadair.”

Here are some closer looks at the plane, albeit out of focus. I haven’t had much practice photographing low-flying planes, obviously. But the sky? Ah! Did someone say endless blue?

Aren’t propellers just precious?The day after these photos, this was the scene on the railing of my balcony:

We were blessed with the wet stuff only for about 7 minutes, though, so the planes were out again the next day–they’re a pretty regular feature around here this time of year unfortunately.

As terrible as it is that we have to deal with the fires, I do rather enjoy following the planes as they make their circuitous routes from the sea and back, over and over again. There’s something rather soothing in the rumble, perhaps my knowing they’re doing their best to keep us all safe.

Sights like this also help ease my mind and soul: