I don't normally comment on movies but in this case I had to after reading a lot of negative comments about this one. First off I've seen people saying it's full of plot holes, if you think that you simply didn't understand what the movie was all about. It's about the emotional effects that these kind of fires have on the crews fighting them, it's not about how much you care about the people in the movie, it's about how much they care about each other and how they have to put their own feelings aside to get the job done.
I am a firefighter and I must say there was 2 things about this movie that just would not happen. First the trucks running out of water that close to the fire, the safety system in place would not allow that to happen. Second thing was the burn over of the 4WD, no firefighter would ever try to out run a fire like they did, the result of trying to out run a wildfire is always death. No Australian firefighter would allow themselves to be in a wildfire situation and not have at least a 1/4 tank of water for safety. Modern fire trucks designed for wildfires (tankers) are equipped low water alert systems. They also have crew safety system that engulf the entire truck in water in case of a burn over, as well as fire blankets for every member on the truck and fire curtains in the cabin of the truck, this just wouldn't happen the way it did in the movie anymore and if it did someone made one hell of a mistake. The last few months have proved that the safety protocols that have been put in place over the last 10 years work.
I am a firefighter and I must say there was 2 things about this movie that just would not happen. First the trucks running out of water that close to the fire, the safety system in place would not allow that to happen. Second thing was the burn over of the 4WD, no firefighter would ever try to out run a fire like they did, the result of trying to out run a wildfire is always death. No Australian firefighter would allow themselves to be in a wildfire situation and not have at least a 1/4 tank of water for safety. Modern fire trucks designed for wildfires (tankers) are equipped low water alert systems. They also have crew safety system that engulf the entire truck in water in case of a burn over, as well as fire blankets for every member on the truck and fire curtains in the cabin of the truck, this just wouldn't happen the way it did in the movie anymore and if it did someone made one hell of a mistake. The last few months have proved that the safety protocols that have been put in place over the last 10 years work.