Story ID: 
Bambi Introduces PowerFill Buckets
By: Bill Wagstaff
Caption: Just when you think everything that can be done with the basic SEI Industries Bambi bucket  has been done, the Delta, British Columbia, Canada-based c
Word Count: 254
Just when you think everything that can be done with the basic SEI Industries Bambi bucket  has been done, the Delta, British Columbia, Canada-based company comes up with some surprises. For those who don’t know, the Bambi Bucket is the water-dropping device of choice among airborne firefighters, especially when it comes to plonking large amounts of water or other flame retardant precisely onto forest blazes. Two of Bambi’s newest products, the PowerFill I and PowerFill II Systems, provide shallow filling capabilities for multi-drop and single-drop Bambi Buckets. The PowerFill I system, designed to work with Torrentula Valve-equipped multi-drop Bambi Buckets, uses up to four four-inch electrical pumps to enable a fast bottom fill from water sources as shallow as 18 inches. Depending on the size of the Bambi Bucket, the PowerFill I system can fill the bucket in 21 to 97 seconds, leaving less than eight inches of liquid behind in a standard dip tank. According to SEI, competitive belly tank systems can leave three to four feet of liquid in dip tanks, resulting in significant waste of fire retardant and foam. The PowerFill II system uses two four-inch pumps to fill traditional single-drop Bambi Buckets in less than 65 seconds from water sources as shallow as six inches. The 28-volt DC system draws only 60 amps, compared with a maximum current draw of 180 amps for the larger PowerFill I system. Both systems reduce wear and tear on the Bambi Buckets by eliminating the need for filling by dragging the bucket along a lake or stream bed.