📌 Firefighting: water, drops, spread and points

A firefighting slot ([FIRE] in the name) has "Firefighting" in the F10 menu. SAR slots can't fight fires (and don't get fire callouts).

Over water (lake/sea/river): hold a low (<15 m), slow (<5 m/s) hover → the bucket fills by 150 kg/s. The counter updates every 5 s: Picking up water (water): 350 / 2000 kg (+150 kg/s).
At a hospital / FARP: land → it fills too (2× slower).
Water adds weight (setUnitInternalCargo) — a full bucket = heavier, sluggish helo. You can't take water with patients aboard.
Capacity by type: CH-47 5000 · Mi-8 3000 · UH-1H 1000 · Mi-24 800 kg.

The drop runs along your track: the load is released in 8 pulses of 0.4 s (~3 s) → it covers a swath along the flight path, not a single point. Hold straight flight while it empties; a turn smears the swath. While the bucket is emptying, another "Drop water" is ignored.
Water falls with the wind and your speed → release a bit before you are over the fire. Drift = speed + wind, so a headwind run partly cancels it (shorter lead, slower over the ground).
Altitude decides (scatter = 25 + AGL×0.8 m, potency falls linearly with a 30 % floor), drop limit 120 m AGL:

AGL	spread	potency	of 5000 kg
10 m	33 m	100 %	5000 kg
30 m	49 m	67 %	3370 kg
50 m	65 m	51 %	2540 kg
80 m	89 m	37 %	1850 kg
120 m	121 m	30 %	1500 kg

⚠️ AGL is measured from the GROUND, not the canopy (forest 25–35 m) — over trees descend lower than it feels.
1200 kg lowers a source by 1 level; a big fire has 3–5 sources. Full card on the kneeboard (6/7 CZ, 7/7 EN).

F10 "Status (water / fires)" = water aboard + active fires with bearing and distance to them.
F10 "Guide to fire (on/off)" = turns on continuous bearing/distance to the nearest fire (every 30 s). Off = only the initial callout when a fire starts.
F10 "Start a fire (only when quiet)" = when no fire is burning, you can start one yourself (in a random FIRE zone). If something is already burning, the command refuses.

An unextinguished fire grows and spreads downwind; if it reaches a village → civilian casualties + penalties (morale/fund/reputation). Putting it out before the village = "village saved" bonus.
A fire at a SAR rescue (burning building/forest): put it out → bonus + more evacuation time (ideal co-op: one fights fire, one evacuates).
If nobody fights it, an AI firefighter is dispatched (actually flies for water).
Points: drop 5 · source out 40 · whole fire 100 · village saved +150 · fast +60 · SAR assist 60.
Badges: 🚒 Fire from the Sky · 💧 Water Bomber · 🏘️ Village Savior · 🔥 Lord of Flames.

Based on the pilot guide (mission BETA2.99.21). Post your questions and experience in this thread.