Hey, there is some talk about using water balloons.

Most important, said Cleary, the planes would drop the water bombs accurately from high above the flames instead of precariously skimming the smoldering hills, the way air tankers do now.

According to the U.S. Forest Service, there were 20 aerial firefighting accidents and 13 fatalities between 2006 and 1996. Cleary said it is easy to convince the pilots who fly these missions that there’s a better way.

The system is ready to be tested on a real fire on private land, Goddard said. The government requires extensive testing before new firefighting technology can be used on federal land.

The Forest Service has not yet run the numbers to see if buying thousands of disposable box-and-balloon kits at an initial price of $300 each can save enough money on equipment, manpower and other costs to make the technology worthwhile.

“It costs several millions of dollars to install a tank on an aircraft, and that lasts at least 15 years,” said Carl Bambarger, an expert in aerial firefighting with the Forest Service’s Technology and Development Center in San Dimas.