Aerial Firefighting: Getting Ready to Fly Fires in Fire Season

As various airtanker and helicopters companies under contract with State or Federal firefighting agencies two important things must happen, The first is that aircraft undergoes maintenance to be sure that each aircraft in the companies fleet meets various safety and  maintenance requirements. All features in the aircraft are looked at including but not limited to engines, pilot controls. the airframe, etc. See this January 30th Facebook post from Dauntless for more information and pictures about their winter maintenance program.

In addition to maintenance, annual winter/spring training of pilots and crews happens, including training for new pilots and refresher training for pilots who have previously flown fires for the company. The specifics of new and refresher training is usually mandated by the agency who contracts for the aircraft, covering the specifics of flying fires, aircraft safety and the like. See this short February 19th video from Aeroflite Aerial Firefighting on Facebook for a short glimpse into this training.

Friday Fun: 10 Tanker Turns Twenty

Direct link to May 2024 video from 12News on YouTube

My memories of 10 Tanker Air Carrier go back to the early days of my blog in 2009 when I was learning about different types of airtankers and what was involved in flying wildfires. I spent many hours over e-mail and on the phone with my friend Tom Janney, a former air tanker pilot in those days. I have distinct memories of watching many videos of a 10 Tanker working wildfires. 10 Tankers do a lot of good work dropping high volumes of retardant on wildfires. Tom Janney has since passed, and I am forever grateful for all that I learned from him as well as other tanker pilots who helped me out in those days. When I first saw this video from 10 Tanker on Facebook I thought immediately of Tom Janney, thank-you Tom. I share the link to this video in your memory. Unfortunately I am not able to embed the video here, the video is a little over two minutes long, please take a couple of minutes to watch this video.

Bushfire Threats in Victoria Australia Easing Up on February 18th

I continue to follow, as best I can, the bushfire situation in Victoria, Australia, a map of the location of current bushfires burning in Victoria may be found here  The bushfire that I am focusing on is the Trawool bushfire noted by the orange triangle, south of Seymore, on the map I linked to. Please note that this map is probably updated daily and depending on when you are reading this post, the information may be different. I took the liberty of taking a screenshot of this map at the time I am posting this article so that you may see the current map. You will note from the map that I linked to that there are other bushfires burning in Victoria. I am not familiar with exactly how bushfires are classified in Australia so I cannot say for certain if the other bushfires currently burning are of a lower threat condition.

According to a Feb 18th article by ABC News (Australia) a bushfire broke out near Trawool in Victoria Tuesday afternoon. The bushfire had burned about 148 hectares (or 366 acres) with 30 homes threatened and evacuations were in place. A February 17th video report from 7News Australia reports on the  Trawool bushfire may be found here, unfortunately I am not able to embed this video. 

As I write this post today, the latest information (see the screenshot that I copied below) I have on this bushfire is that the threat is reduced and officials continue to monitor and work the bushfire which is not yet under control

Extreme Bushfire Danger on Feb 16th in Victoria Australia

Direct link to February 16th Severe Weather Update from the Bureau of Meteorology

While winter continues in the United States, Australia is in the summer months meaning bushfire season. I have been wondering about bushfire danger in Australia and while I am not in the position to know weather conditions and attendant bushfire danger in all of Australia I do know that Victoria, Australia is experiencing extreme bushfire danger today (February 16 and 17th). According to this February 16th ABC News report and the video I shared above dry fuels and high winds in Victoria mean extreme bushfire danger, however weather conditions may change to lower this extreme fire danger later on.

Friday Fun: A Review of Helicopters and Air Tankers Battling Wildfires

For today's Friday Fun post I am posting a short video on some of air tankers and helicopters that help wildland firefighters on the ground fight wildfires. This video focuses on aircraft used in California.

Direct link to January 2026 from the National Wildfire Tracking Team on YouTube

Snow Drought in Western U.S. Raises Increased Concerns About Wildfire Danger

According to the latest drought monitor New Jersey and surrounding areas are still experiencing a drought, however at least in New Jersey we have had a fair amount of snow this winter. Recently we saw frigid temperatures for several days with temperatures below freezing. But while we in New Jersey and environs are not out of a drought no one has raised concerns, at least not yet, about water shortages. I saw this video on the B10 NJ Wildland Fire Page today about a record snow drought in the Western U.S. raising concerns about water shortages and wildfire danger. 

Direct link to February 10th video from the Associated Press

Apologies for being very late in making my Wednesday post. 

Respect for Wildland Firefighters Working in Extreme Weather Conditions

Here in New Jersey we had a major snowstorm a couple of weeks ago followed by cold temperatures, below freezing most days. This past weekend the weather was downright frigid with highs lower than 20F and breezy conditions. The snow from two weeks ago is still present in my area. I am not in the position to speak to if wildfires occur in snow covered terrain. I can say the frigid temperatures that we have experienced the last couple of days made me appreciate that wildland firefighters work fires in all kinds of temperatures from very hot temperatures in the summer to frigid temperatures in the winter. I know enough to know that under their Nomex gear that they will have added layers to protect them from extreme cold. Here in New Jersey we could have had frigid temperatures with no snow on the ground which would have meant that if their was a wildfire, that New Jersey Forest Fire Wildland Firefighters would have been working a fire in frigid temperatures. Of course in other parts of the United States, the extreme cold is not necessarily uncommon in the winter.

The purpose of this short post is to give a shout out to all wildland firefighters both on the ground, in the air, and support personal for working in all extreme temperatures. Thank-you from the bottom of my heart for all you do to keep us safe.

Aerial Firefighting: Helicopter Capabilities and Limitations

I have never been in a helicopter. Perhaps one day I will have the opportunity to ride in one. Nonetheless, I am interested in what goes into flying a helicopter, both for wildland firefighting and other purposes. I suspect that flying a helicopter for wildland firefighting poses a different set of challenges because they are not landing and taking off from airports or heliports. While the video I am sharing on "Helicopter Capabilities and Limitations" from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group is a part of a training course on helicopter operations in wildfires I learned a lot about what goes into flying a helicopter for wildfire operations. I am sharing this eleven-minute video because I learned a lot and I hope that some of you enjoy this video.

Direct link to January 2026 video from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) on YouTube

Wildfire Behaviour: Fire Weather

Direct link to January 2024 video from World of Wildland Fire (WETC) on YouTube

Fuels, topography and weather are the important components in how a wildfire behaves. In a given area fuels and topography won't change but weather, aka fire weather, does change. I believe that this video is probably directed at wildland firefighters, perhaps as a part of their training, however I learned something and have a greater appreciation of what wildland firefighters, on the ground and in the air to keep us safe from wildfires. I hope that you find this video useful.

Wildfire Dozer in Action

I have a lot of respect for all wildland firefighters whether they be on the ground or in the air. Wildland firefighters on the ground may be operating dozers. Dozers are important in wildland firefighting. One of the important roles that dozers play are in clearing large line around a fire to help contain the wildfire. And there are other roles that dozers play in working wildfires. I know that the New Jersey Forest Fire Services operates dozers when needed to work wildfires. 

I enjoyed this twelve minute January 2026 video shot from the point of view of a dozer operator. I always learn something from videos like the one I am sharing with you today. Thanks to all wildland firefighters on the ground (on foot or in dozers) and in the air fighting wildfires. Stay safe.

Direct link to January 2026 video from Wildland_Firefighter on YouTube