Friday Fun: Women in Aviation at Coulson Aviation

Direct link to February 2026 video from Coulson Aviation on YouTube

I think that women are playing an increasing role in fire aviation as demonstrated by the video from Coulson Aviation that they recently shared on Facebook. I am always happy to see videos and images highlighting women's role in fire aviation. I believe that Coulson may have shared this video to honor women in aviation week a few weeks ago.

New Jersey Forest Fire Service: Prescribed Burning Continues

Obtained on March 18th from https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NJDEP/bulletins/40eddca

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service continues with prescribed burning today, March 18th in Burlington, Monmouth, and Ocean Counties. 

Obtained on March 18th from https://dep.nj.gov/parksandforests/wildfire/prescribed-fire-notifications/

For current information from the NJ Forest Fire Service about wildfires go to https://dep.nj.gov/parksandforests/wildfire/

New Jersey Forest Fire Service: Prescribed Burns Continue and Brushfires

I understand from a conversation with a knowledgeable friend that the New Jersey Forest Fire Service  has extended the prescribed burn period to April 1st, probably because the two winter storms created wet conditions that were not conducive to prescribed burns. To that end, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service conducted more prescribed burns this past weekend on March 14th and again on March 15th in Burlington, Cape may, Gloucester, and Monmouth Counties. It is raining today so I don't think that any prescribed burns are happening today.

I also understand that there have been some recent brushfires in New Jersey. According to Jersey Coast Emergency News there was a brush fire in East Amwell Township (Hunterdon County) over the weekend, go here for more information. I have no further information on that brush fire. An addition, according to Jersey Coast Emergency News there were also several brush fires over the weekend. Finally, a friend told me about a small brush fire on Saturday, less than 5 acres near Manalapan in Monmouth County, NJ.

Florida: Aerial Prescribed Burns and Single Engine Eagle Helicopter

Direct link to Dec. 2025 video from VerticalPlus on YouTube

I know how important prescribed burning is as a tool to manage wildfire danger. As some of you may know, I consider Florida to be one of my special places so I have an interest in following how they fight wildfires. I enjoyed the video that I am sharing here from VerticalPlus about Florida's prescribed burning program and their use of an Eagle single engine helicopter. The state of Florida uses this Eagle single engine helicopter that has been converted from a twin engine to a single engine helicopter, for aerial prescribed burns because of its efficiency. I learned more about Florida's aerial prescribed burning program.

NJ Forest Fire Service - Prescribed Burns Conducted on March 10th & 11th

I follow the NJ Forest Fire Service on Facebook as well  as following the B10 NJ Wildland Fire Page. Yesterday I noted in both sites that the NJ Forest Fire Service conducted prescribed burns in southern and central New Jersey in the counties of Burlington, Cumberland, Monmouth and Ocean. See this March 10th post on Facebook from the NJ Forest Fire Service for more information. 

Edited to add at 10:25 AM on March  11th: I just found out from the NJ Forest Fire Service Facebook account and the B10 NJ Wildland Fire Page (links above) that the NJ Forest Fire Service is doing more prescribed burns today, March 11th in Burlington, Cape May and Ocean Counties. The NJ Forest Fire Service just posted a March 11th update on their Facebook page, go here to see their March 11th post.

Obtained on March 11th from https://dep.nj.gov/parksandforests/wildfire/prescribed-fire-notifications/

Note, the map that I shared here is the current map (March 11th) when I posted this entry. The map may be different if you access the site on a different day.

Transporting a MH-47 Chinook Helicopter

I have to admit that I never gave much thought to how large helicopters such as the MH-47 Chinook are transported when they are not able to fly. Yes, I was being a little dense. Anyway, I was intrigued when I was checking my Facebook feed this morning and saw this post by Coulson Aviation of a MH-47 Chinoom being transported by a large tractor trailer. I do believe but I am not certain that a smaller helicopter might be able to be transported by a large aircraft such as a C130 when they are not able to fly. Anyway, I thought that these pictures from Coulson might be of interest to some of you so I am sharing it today

Direct link to March 4th post by Coulson Aviation on Facebook

Friday Fun: AeroFlite Images from Spring Aerial Firefighting Training

 It is spring and that means that the spring aerial firefighting training for new and current pilots continues. Here are some nice images from shared by AeroFlite Aerial Firefighting on their Facebook account on March 5th with some nice photos by Eric Kiehn

Low Fire Danger in New Jersey (March 4)

 

NJ Forest Fire Service Fire Danger for March 4, 2026 

Knowing that at least in my area of New Jersey that there is still snow on the ground and the ground may be wet in areas where the snow has recently melted I had a feeling that fire danger in New Jersey is low as you can see from the images I posted. What I suspect but don't know for certain is that the snow on the ground coupled with wet areas where snow has melted might mean a delay in prescribed burning in New Jersey. I suspect that as soon as conditions improve for prescribed burning that the New Jersey Forest Fire Service will start on prescribed burning and fire danger may increase. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service has a dashboard for wildfire conditions and restrictions that may be found here (note I could not access the full features on this site from Chrome but can in Firefox and Safari)

NJ Forest Fire Service Deployed to Texas

 I continue to be aware of the severe wildfire season that have impacted Texas, see my February 25th post. Information on the current wildfire situation in Texas (updated daily) may be found here (note that I am unable to view all of this site on Chrome). I am, as always, very grateful when New Jersey Forest Fire Crews are deployed out of State to help fight wildfires. I was happy to note in a February 25th post on X that a NJ Forest Fire Service Crew has been deployed to Texas to help fight wildfires.

New Jersey Forest Fire Service staff have been deployed to Texas to assist with wildfire suppression as the state experiences elevated wildfire activity. pic.twitter.com/yxNJBzFiIn

— New Jersey Forest Fire Service (@njdepforestfire) February 26, 2026

Friday fun: Helicopters Fighting Wildfire (Jan 23, 2026) in Western Australia

Direct link to Jan. 23rd video by Outbacktruckie on YouTube

Obtained from Google Earth on January 23rd, 2026

This is the end of summer in Australia which means that bush fire season may still be ongoing. I wanted to find a video of firefighting aircraft involved in fighting bush fires in Australia. What I found was this video of three helicopters refueling while fighting a bush fire on January 23rd near Boddington, Western Australia. What intrigued me about this video by Outbacktruckie was that he identified the three helicopters that are refueling. In addition, I got a somewhat closeup view of these helicopters while they are refueling. In the video you will see two Sikorsky UH60 helicopters (678. 679) and one Bell 214 helicopter (671). I was not able to find any information about the January 23rd bushfire near Boddington Western Australia on the Western Australia EmergencyWA website.