I have blogged about aerial wildland firefighting since 2009. I am not a firefighter and am not a pilot, just an interested bystander who wants to learn more and share what I learn here. Join me here as I blog on the aircraft and the pilots who fight wildland fires from the air in support of crews on the ground. I also blog on concerns affecting fire crews on the ground as well as other aviation and meteorology issues. Learn what it takes to do jobs that are staffed by the best of the best.
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Saturday, April 10, 2010
Aerial Operations at the Owassa Fire
The webmaster of the NJFFS Section B10 webpage told me about this video that he had posted to his webpage last night and I want to post it here so that you may enjoy this footage. There is some decent footage of the NJFFS UH-1H Huey Helicopter -- Delta 6 -- performing bucket operations with its 300-gallon bambi bucket. For those of you who want to see an AgCat in action, you will see two drops by the Ag Cat. Now, I don't know if we are seeing one or two AgCats. Two AgCats were working the fire on April 7 and I understand that the tanker base is about a 15 minute flight from the fire. So, if the video we are seeing is what was seen in real time, then I am pretty certain that we are seeing the two AgCats from Division A (Alpha 1 and Alpha 2).
I am thrilled to have some video footage of an AgCat flying a fire in New Jersey to show you. Enjoy!
Great video. Thanks for posting it Tyler.
ReplyDeleteThanks Bill! And thanks to the NJFFS for a job well done on this fire.
ReplyDeleteTyler
Good stuff! I'm going to hold my tongue on the first AgCat drop though. Second drop was right on the money.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
TL
TL,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. The video only showed a very brief snippet of the work of the AgCats and the helo fighting the fire on the afternoon of April 7. As I understand it, the aerial support was crucial because the rough terrain made it difficult for the ground crews to access the fire. The fire was contained at 105 acres, thanks to the good work of the ground crews and the AgCats.
Tyler
Oh, and I don't want to forget the work of the helo, delta 6 at the Owassa fire.
ReplyDeleteTyler