Forest fires are often difficult to fight because of the lack of water. Now
Ignacio, Javier and Pedro Abascal Rubio of Pamplona, Spain, have devised a
machine that puts out such fires, without water (WO 97/15352).
A tractor cuts down trees around the fire with its power shovel while a
plough wheel at the rear churns up the ground feeding the earth to a spinning
turbine. The turbine throws the finely dispersed soil through a nozzle, creating
a jet of earth, which the firefighters use to smother the fire.