Trucks and hydrants are ideal for extinguishing fires on dry land. But how do you snuff out a burning ship or beach-front resort?
The Dubai Civil Defence (DCD) over the weekend unwrapped new technology that helps firefighters rise to the occasion—literally.
In a video released on Friday (below), firemen heroically ride across the harbor, Baywatch-style on jet skis, toward a bridge where a car is made to look like it's on fire.
There, rescuers are fitted with a jetpack, then lifted into the air via intense water pressure from the attached Sea-Doo. Dressed in full uniform and carrying a hose, the firefighter hovers near the overpass, dousing the smoking truck with seawater as cars cruise past.
Introduced more than a year ago, the "innovative and world-leading" system, dubbed Dolphin, aims to provide "an additional opportunity to save lives and shorten the response to extinguishing fires," according to the translated YouTube video description.
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"In order to keep abreast with the rapid constructional and architectural developments which Dubai experiences every day … Dubai Civil Defence is committed … to implement the latest technologies to achieve highest safety standards for all [United Arab Emirates] residents in general, and Dubai residents in particular," the DCD said in November 2015.
This new technology, the agency said, can help accident commanders "to set priorities and requirements needed to restrain and douse the fire." Thermal cameras mounted on the device also help search and rescue teams find people trapped in a boat or building.
In May 2015, Swiss adventurer and daredevil Yves Rossy (and sidekick Vince Reffet) strapped on winged jetpacks for a very different reason: to fly over Dubai at speeds of roughly 124 miles per hour.