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Disney’s Planes Sequel To Highlight Work Of Florida Wildland Firefighters

Disney's "Planes" Facebook page
Dusty Crophopper, the world famous air racer, is now learning to fight wildfires with veteran land-and-aircraft fire crews in "Planes: Fire and Rescue," the sequel of Disney's "Planes."

The latest Disney-Pixar movie, "Planes: Fire and Rescue," is scheduled for a nationwide release this Friday, and Disney is partnering with the Florida Forest Service as part of that release.

Before the movie starts, Florida moviegoers will see a 30-second educational video about Florida’s Wildland Firefighters and their effort to combat wildfires.

That short video coincides with the “Planes: Fire and Rescue” movie—a sequel to the 2013 film, Planes, featuring the world famous air racer Dusty Crophopper. He’s now learning to fight wildfires with veteran land-and-aircraft fire crews as heard in the latter part of this movie clip:

And, when Crophopper flies through the air, it appears like he’s dropping mud over the fire, which Florida Forest Service Spokeswoman Chelsea Ealum says is not uncommon.

“We have certain planes that have capability of dropping either water or a type of mixture that is a type of fire suppressant, which is probably what you’re looking at in the clip for the movie. It’s a plane that just goes over the fire and drops either that water or fire suppressant type of material. And, it helps to just slow down the fire so the firefighters on the ground can create a line that will keep the fire contained,” said Ealum.

And, she says in the partnership with Disney, her department is excited to show moviegoers the important work the about 630 Florida Wildland Firefighters do using all sorts of different equipment to battle wildfires.

“So, it’s important that we recognize that the movie highlights this for wildland firefighters across the U.S. and here at home,” she added. “And, it’s just a great opportunity to show kids what we do each and every day here at the Florida Forest Service, and to remember when they see matches or lighters to give them to adults, and to remind adults  that when they have a fire outside—a good fire—to make sure to keep it attended and make sure to keep it attended and make sure it doesn’t escape because those firefighters do put their  lives on the line to help us out.”

There’ve also been a number of pre-screenings in cities around the state where Florida Forest Service and Radio Disney’s Road Crew greet guests and demonstrate firefighting equipment to put a real-life face to some of the movie characters.

“Planes: Fire and Rescue” hits the nation’s big screens this Friday.

For more news updates, follow Sascha Cordner on Twitter: @SaschaCordner.

Sascha Cordner has more than ten years of public radio experience. It includes working at NPR member station WUFT-FM in Gainesville for several years. She's worked in both radio and TV, serving in various capacities as a reporter, producer and anchor. She's also a graduate of the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in telecommunications. She is the recipient of 15 awards from the Associated Press, Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), and Edward R. Murrow. Her award-winning stories include her coverage on the infamous “Dozier School for Boys” and a feature titled "Male Breast Cancer: Lost in the Sea of Pink." Currently, Sascha serves as the host and producer of local and state news content for the afternoon news program "All Things Considered" at WFSU. Sascha primarily covers criminal justice and social services issues. When she's not reporting, Sascha likes catching up on her favorite TV shows, singing and reading. Follow Sascha Cordner on Twitter:@SaschaCordner.