system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why do they need "elite squads of firefighters" to go into these dangerous areas on foot? Why can't they use a plane or a helicopter?
gpt
On foot is the safest way to traverse a fire and get to where you need to be.

Parachuting in is a terrible and extremely deadly option. ONce you get near enough to the fires, parachutes can catch fire and the firefighters fall to their deaths, so Planes are out.

Helecopters, while reliable at a distance, cannot hover well in the torrent of winds whipped by a huge fire, and will loose control on entry, and trying to lower people down with a rope is also case to be made for the winds whipping people back and forth or the rope catching fire. The argument could also be made that the climbing winch is metal cable, but still, the safety of rapelling down to a fire zone is too great a risk.

Generally, going in on foot allows them to clear an escape path, and a known trajectory. The other terrible thing about a helicopter is that while it may be able to execute a well planned drop off.... a pick up maybe not so much. Visibility, wind shear and other factors prevent people from being seen in a fire, and give way to the possibility that even with a well planned out escape route, things will go the fuck wrong.