Friday, December 30, 2022

Atmospheric River Event on West Coast (December 31 2022 to January 1 2023)

Rain and snow came to portions of the west coast of the United States earlier this week caused by Atmospheric Rivers and are forecast to occur this coming weekend. What are atmospheric Rivers, this document ,"What are Atmospheric Rivers" by NOAA provides some of the meteorology behind atmospheric rivers, they say in part:

Atmospheric rivers are relatively long, narrow regions in the atmosphere – like rivers in the sky – that transport most of the water vapor outside of the tropics. These columns of vapor move with the weather, carrying an amount of water vapor roughly equivalent to the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River. When the atmospheric rivers make landfall, they often release this water vapor in the form of rain or snow. Although atmospheric rivers come in many shapes and sizes, those that contain the largest amounts of water vapor and the strongest winds can create extreme rainfall and floods, often by stalling over watersheds vulnerable to flooding. These events can disrupt travel, induce mudslides and cause catastrophic damage to life and property. A well-known example is the "Pineapple Express," a strong atmospheric river that is capable of bringing moisture from the tropics near Hawaii over to the U.S. West Coast.

Take a look at this graphic that explains what an atmospheric River on the west coast USA is. 

Obtained on December 30, 2022 from https://www.noaa.gov/stories/what-are-atmospheric-rivers

I first got wind of the atmospheric river that occured on the west coast USA from this Washington Post article by Matthew Cappucci on December 27th, Cappucci reports in part:

The West Coast, ordinarily known for being parched and drought-stricken, is facing a barrage of atmospheric rivers — plumes of deep tropical moisture known for bringing heavy rain and snow. Parts of coastal California, including the Bay Area, are under flood watches, initial signs from the first of several atmospheric rivers set to drench the West in the days ahead.

Weather alerts — for heavy rain in the lowlands, and snow and wind in the mountains — blanket most of central and Northern California. Coastal and central Oregon and Washington are largely under flood watches and high wind warnings, with winter storm warnings in the Cascades and Columbia River Basin.

I am interested in these forecasted atmospheric rivers because I know how much the drought-stricken west coast needs rain. While I doubt that this atmospheric river event will be a drought buster, any precipitation will help. I understand that the atmospheric river event, see for example the graphic below from the Sacramento Weather Forecast Office of the National Weather Service will take place over a couple of days possibly bringing from one to nine inches depending on location:

Obtained on December 30, 2022 from https://www.weather.gov/sto/

Here is what I hope is a good link from KCRA in Sacramento with this weekend's wet weather forecast, forecasting an atmospheric river event.

It seems like this upcoming atmospheric river event will be over a couple of days, which hopefully will minimize any detrimental effects on recent wildfire burn scars.


 

 




Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Airtankers from 2010

 I have been thinking recently of the Airtankers that were still flying when I started this blog in 2009, in particular the P2V from Neptune Aviation and the Lockheed P-3 Orion from Aero Union. Both are no longer flying. The last P2V was retired a couple of years ago and Lockheed shut down operations about 11 years ago. I wanted to share a video featuring these tankers and remembered a video by Alan Simmons.

In this eight minute video by Alan Simmons shot around 2009 and 2010 you will see the Grumman S2-T flown by CAL Fire (still in service), P2V Neptune, Lockheed P-3 Orion, Canadair CL-215 and 415 (I belive the 415 is still in service, not sure about the 215), and a DC-10 tanker (the DC-10 tanker in this video is no longer flying but 10 Tanker Carrier has a fleet DC-10 tankers flying fires). Alan ends with a section of what were historic tankers at the time he shot this video. Some of you may remember this video as I have shared it here before on a couple of occasions. It is worth seeing again.


Direct link to video by Alan Simmons on YouTube



Monday, December 26, 2022

2022 wildfire season: Grayback Forestry

 Enjoy this video highlighting Grayback Foretry's 2022 fire season. Thanks Grayback wildfire crews for all you did to keep us safe from wildfires.


Direct link to video on YouTube from Galen Huntsman

Friday, December 23, 2022

Holiday Greetings 2022: The Shepard

My tradition during the end of the year holiday season is to post The Shepard by Frederic Forsyth as read by Alan Maitland on CBC radio. Please join me in pausing and remembering all first responders including but not limited to wildland firefighters who may be away from their families. I wish all of you a happy and safe holiday season.


Direct link to video on YouTube

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Coulson Aviation: 2022-23 international operations

As many of you may know, one of the aviation companies that have wildland firefighting contracts for their air tankers and helitankers in the United States and outside the U.S. is Coulson Aviation. Coulson has been on my mind of late because it is wildfire/bush fire season in the southern hemisphere and I know that Coulson has contracts in the southern hemisphere. I recently saw a December 5th article on Aerial Fire reporting that Coulson just signed a four-year contract with the Western Australian Government for one of their C-130 air tankers. Knowing that Fire Aviation would have reported about this contract, I found this December 5th article on Fire Aviation by Kelly Andersson reporting on the contract for the C-130 and another contract for a 737 air tanker. So Coulson will have two of their large air tankers on contract in Western Australia during their summer fire season. According to this December 13th Facebook post by the Dept. of Fire and Emergency Services in Western Australia, Coulson’s C-130 saw action on or about December 12th.

Among the other countries with Coulson's firefighting aircraft are according to Coulson's May 2022 news release Argentina purchased a Coulson 737, also see Bill Gabberts May 12th article on Fire Aviation. This year according to this December 20th Coulson Aviation Facebook post Coulson also has a C-130 air tanker and a CH-47 helitanker in Chile. To the best of my knowledge Coulson still has a presence in New South Wales, Australia this season, see Coulson Aviation's Australia website for more information. I know that in prior years, Coulson have had a presence in on or two other countries that I have not listed here. 


Direct link to video by Coulson Aviation on YouTube


Monday, December 19, 2022

Aviation History: Wright Brothers First Flight on December 17, 1903

A couple of the sites that I follow for reporting on wildfire news are taking a well deserved break until after the New Year and since it seems to be quiet in the world of wildfires, at least in the United States, famous last words. I just jinxed it. LOL. Anyway, I will keep posting during the holidays, but it may or may not be my usual fare. I will try to keep current on any major wildfires here in the U.S. In the meantime, December 17, was the ninety-ninth anniversary of the Wright Brother's First Flight. Enjoy this footage from early fights of the Wright Brothers shared by airailimages on YouTube. 


Direct link to video from Airailimages on YouTube

Friday, December 16, 2022

Changes in Wildfire Today and Fire Aviation websites

I have sad news to report about Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today and Fire Aviation. Bill is ill with pancreatic cancer. Many of you follow Bill's reporting on wildfires and fire aviation and probably already know this news. Bill I am holding you and your family in the light. According to this December 9th post on Wildfire Today Bill is giving his rights to both sites to the International Association of Wildland Fire:

The WildfireToday site was launched in January 2008 and the FireAviation website followed four years later in 2012. 'I have long had a passion for wildland fire,' says Mr. Gabbert, 'and it requires continuous learning. I’ve always been a student of wildfire, and I wanted to create a venue for the fire community that encouraged students of wildfire. I am certain that I don’t want that venue squandered. I therefore have decided to give all rights to both websites to the International Association of Wildland Fire. The IAWF shares my values, and my commitment to preserving these two websites and 15 years of collected data, knowledge, and experience gathered from thousands of people who share our passion for wildland fire.'

Those of you who are not familiar with this transition in Wildfire Today and Fire Aviation may want to read the entire December 9th post on Wildfire Today I understand that this transition will take a little time and I look forward to continuing to follow both Wildfire Today and Fire Aviation. Both sites have always been among my go to places for reporting on wildfires and fire aviation, and it is only fitting to pause and thank Bill for his fifteen years of reporting and to say that I will continue to follow both sites under the reporting of the IAWF. 

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

2022 wildfire season: Bald Mountain Helitack 2022 season

I continue posting 2022 season summary videos from various wildland fire crews. Today's offering is from Bald Mountain Helitack 517, located in Stanislaus National Forest southeast of Sacramento, California. As I have no first hand experience of working on a wildfire crew, nor will I in the future, the best way that I can share with you what life is like is through sharing videos like the one I am sharing today. More importantly I hope that the wildland fire crews know that I have deep respect for all that you do to keep us safe and the sacrifices you make in time away from your loved ones. 

I enjoyed getting a feeling of the crew's season including on the fireline, resting, and crew interactions during downtime. I also enjoyed the footage of their helicopter. Enjoy! Allow about 12 minutes to watch the video.

 

Direct link to video by Mark Welsh

Monday, December 12, 2022

Grindstone Fire in Pilot Mountain NC: one year later

 I do try to pay special attention to wildfires in the eastern and southern United States. So I took special notice of the video that was posted by my friends at the NJ Forest Service Section B10 website who posted a 17 minute video from the North Carolina Forest Fire Service on the one-year anniversary of the wildfire in the Pilot Mountain State Park. I have not been to the Pilot Mountain area of North Carolina, but I have visited other areas in the mountains of North Carolina. 

The wildfire on Pilot Mountain, aka the Grindstone Fire, was first reported on Nov. 27, 2021 in a remote area of the park. The fire eventually burned 1,050 acres. I wrote three articles on this fire last year, with my final article being on December 3, 2021

I was very interested in this video on the fire from the NC Forest Service. Not only did I learn about the origin of the wildfire and the difficulties in finding the ignition point of the fire. They talk about the history and importance of prescribed burning in Pilot Mountain. I was perhaps most interested where they talked about how the vegetation and wildlife came back after the fire.


Direct link to video from the NCForestService on YouTube

Wednesday, December 07, 2022

Mary Barr: first female pilot flying for the US Forest Fire Service

In my wonderings around the internet over the years, I suspect that I had heard of Mary Barr, the first woman who flew for the US Forest Fire Service (USFS). I admit that it was an oversight that I did not make a note about Mary Barr to write about her in my blog. Perhaps there was a reason why this happened as just today I was on social media and noticed that in August of 2022, Mary's daughters -- Molly and Nevada -- were on National Public Radio's Story Corps. Mary, who died in 2010, flew as a contract pilot for the USFS before flying as a lead plane pilot full time in 1974, she also flew smokejumpers for a short time. She was one of the first four women to fly in the Reno Air Races. Wikipedia has a short bio on Mary Barr that may be found here.

Story Corp did provide an embed code and I hoped to be able to embed the actual interview here for easy listening. Unfortunately, the embed code does not work. That happens sometimes. However you can listed to the four minute Story Corp interview at this direct link to the Story Corp interview where Mary and Nevada talk about their Mother, Mary Barr.

I would have enjoyed knowing Mary. I have much respect and appreciation for women like Mary Barr who helped pave the way for other women in aviation. 

Monday, December 05, 2022

2022 wildfire season: Clackamas crew 30

Let's just say that I am a bit superstitious so I am not going to suggest any commentary on current wildfires. The beginnings of a major wildfire could start at any time. That being said, it is the time of year when I like to post videos from various wildfire crews summarizing their 2022 wildfire season. Here is a video from the Clackamas crew 30 providing with a look at their just completed fire season. I believe but am not certain that Clackamas is located in Oregon.


Direct link to video from Cuttin' Chris on YouTube

Friday, December 02, 2022

2022 wildfire season: Diamond Mountain Hotshots 2022 fire season

Enjoy this wonderful video by 6shopfilms summarizing the Diamond Mountain Hotshots 2022 fire season. Allow nine minutes to watch the video. You will see scenes of the hotshots on the fireline, some helicopter bucket work, a couple of airtankers over the fire, a larger helicopter dropping on a fire along with some fire footage.

Direct link to video by 6shopfilms on YouTube 

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

2022 wildfires: Hurricane Ridge Fire (Haywood County NC)

As I am interested in current wildfires of any size currently burning in the United States because I know that in this day and age, wildfire season can run all year or at least from early spring into late fall in areas that receive snowfall. I did a little checking around to find out what  was going on. In my wonderings, I had seen reference to the Hurricane Ridge Fire in a remote section of North Carolina was first reported on November 23rd. I understand this fire has burned about 500 acres. There may be a specific page on the web devoted to this fire outside of media, but I have not found it. However, there is some media coverage, current as of the day I am writing this. ABC13 News out of Asheville NC has some coverage dated November 19th that may be found here, there have been smokey conditions along nearby highways. Rainfall Tuesday night into Wednesday November 30th may help firefighters as the work to contain the fire.

Here is a video report that I found on YouTube from WSPA 7News dated November 29th reporting on the Hurricane Ridge Fire.


Direct link to video from WSPA 7News on YouTube

Monday, November 28, 2022

Reflections: 2016 Chimney2Fire Gaitlinburg Tennesse

There is hardly a day that passes when I do not about wildland fires on the ground with the support of aviation resources. Today is no exception. While I often think about areas in California that have seen major wildfires this time of year, in part due to the Santa Anna winds, wildfires can happen elsewhere. I recall the Chimney2 Fire that burned over 17,000 acres killing 14 people in the Great Smokey Mountains in Tennessee and Gatlinburg Tennessee, see my December 2 and December 5, 2016 articles. Today I pause and remember all those who died in that fire, those who lost homes, and the wildland firefighters on the ground supported by aviation resources.

On a personal note, I have not been the Great Smokeys in Tennessee, but I have been the Great Smokies in western North Carolina and can appreciate the rough terrain and the challenges this terrain poses to wildland firefighters.

Direct link to article from WBIR Channel 10

Friday, November 25, 2022

Friday Fun: Ag Aviation Demo

Enjoy this video of Ag Aviation airplanes -- an Air Tractor AT-802A and a Thrusy 510P demonstrating crop dusting at the 2021 EAA AirVenture. 


Direct link to video by AirshowStuffVideos

Thursday, November 24, 2022

Happy Thanksgiving

As many of us are celebrating Thanksgiving here in the United States with our family and friends, please join me in pausing to remember and be grateful for the service of wildland firefighters, structure firefighters, law enforcement, emergency medical responders and other first responders are on duty today, away from their families, to keep us safe.


via GIPHY

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Cranberry operations in the NJ Pine Barrens revisited


Happy Thanksgiving a day early. For those of you who are planning to travel this holiday weekend, I wish you safe travels. Many of you will be having a Turkey dinner that will include cranberries. New Jersey has some cranberry bogs in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Perhaps some of the cranberries that you will have tomorrow were grown in New Jersey. The video I shared above was shot by New York Live two years ago focusing on the Pine Island Cranberry growers.

Just over ten years ago, the folk at Downstown Aero Crop Services invited me down to their strip near Chatsworth NJ where they were spraying near by cranberry bogs where in addition to seeing Downstown's Ag aviation operations. In addition, I visited two nearby cranberry growers: Pine Island and Lee Brothers. On October 26, 2012 I shared a video compilation of still photos and a short video of Ag Cats that Downstown owned at the time taking off and then spraying the Pine Island cranberry bogs. In honor of New Jersey cranberries, I am sharing my October 2012 compilation again.


Direct link to video on YouTube

In my October 31, 2012 I wrote the first of two posts about Pine Island's cranberry operations, in part one I shared links to a Pine Island Blog where they wrote of their cranberry operations (the links are still working as I write this ten years later). I posted my second article about Pine Island on November 2, 2012, focusing on their packing house. Finally on November 5, 2012 I shared some photos I took at Lee Brothers (near Speedwell NJ).

Monday, November 21, 2022

Thanksgiving Week 2022 Monday Fun: Aeroshell Aerobatic Team

It is Thanksgiving week here in the United States and I am planning to take a time out and share some fun airplane videos. Of course, I do try to keep an eye out as best I can for major wildfires and related news and if that happens I will share about major developments here.

One of the YouTube Channels that I go to when I am looking for something fun to share is AirshowStuffVideos, they have oodles of videos taken at various air shows. AirShowStuff may be found on the web here. I was going through their videos this morning looking for something a little different and fun to share with you when I came across a video that AirshowStuffVideos shot at the 2021Sun 'n Fun in Lakeland, Florida. The video showcases the Aeroshell Aerobatic Team, a team of four flying beautifully restored North American AT-6 "Texans", an aircraft dating back to the late 1930s used to train World War II military pilots. I had a lot of fun watching this 10 minute video of the Aeroshell Team twilight aerobatic show. Watch for the crescent moon at about 6:50 and 8:20. Enjoy!


Direct link to video by AirShowStuffVideos on YouTube

Friday, November 18, 2022

CH47 Chinook

Several years ago when I was still going on occasional scenic flights with a pilot friend, I have a memory of seeing a CH47 Chinook. If memory serves, my pilot friend saw it first, and then I saw it. The Chinook was probably a few miles away so it appeared to be small. However, considering that I can recall seeing small single engine aircraft from the same distance that looked like a large dot in the sky, the fact that we could recognize the Chinook said something about its size. That was the first and last time I was even close to seeing one in person, so to speak. For some reason I was thinking about this apparent sighting of a Chinook while on a scenic ride this morning and decided to focus o the CH47 Chinook today. Knowing that the CH47 is being used for wildland firefighting I wanted to devote today's post to the CH47.

The CH47 has a sixty plus year history dating back to the Vietnam War era, for specifications, history, and some photos of the CH47 go to this page from Military.com

Some CH47 Chinook's have been repurposed for use as a heavy lift helicopter that can be used in wildland firefighting and other heavy lift operations. Billings Flying Service out of Billings, Montana operates CH47 Chinooks. With a range of 360 miles, a maximum gross weight of 50,000 pounds, a maximum air speed of 140 knots and a hook that carry about the 26,000 pounds (Billing's CH47 Chinook page for this and more specifications and information about their CH47 Chinooks) they are an impressive helicopter. The Billing's CH47 Chinooks, with a tank capacity of 2,500 gallons and a bucket capacity of 2,700 gallons, are used for wildland firefighting, see Billings aerial firefighting page for more information.

In the video below from Earl Watters featuring a Billings Chinook CH47, you will see some shots of the instrument panel, shots of dipping to fill her tanks, shots from the cockpit of dropping water, and shots on the ground getting her read to fly a fire. The CH47 was working a fire near Folsom California in August 2022. Enjoy. Allow just under five minutes to watch the video.


Direct link to video from Earl Watters on YouTube



Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Sikorsky S-70i Fire Hawk helicopters revisited (2 of 2)

I am following up on the post I made on November 14th about the Sikorsky S-70i Firehawk. Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation has a list of these Fire Hawks and the agency who operates them in his March 12, 2022 article, all are operated by agencies based in California. I want to close with embedding a couple of videos of CAL FIRE's S-70i Fire Hawk.

I start with a short video by Eli Hunter of an S-70i Fire Hawk landing.

Direct link to video by Eli Hunter on YouTube


Here is a video by Firedudes of an S-70-i Fire Hawk refilling.

Direct link to video by Firedudes on YouTube


I was not able to find a short video of an S70-i Fire Hawk working a fire, but in this short video below by CAL FIRE at about 35 seconds you will see a Fire Hawk dropping on what appears to be wildfire or a controlled burn. I am sure that there are videos out there of the S70-i Fire Hawk in action over a wildfire that I was not able to find.

Direct link to video by CAL FIRE on YouTube

Monday, November 14, 2022

Sikorsky S-70i Fire Hawk helicopters revisited (1 of 2)

 I suspect that many of you, especially those of you living on the west coast of the United States know about the Sikorsky S-70i Fire Hawk helicopters. Lockheedmartin has a nice webpage about the Fire Hawk saying that the Fire Hawk starts out as a Black Hawk. This web page has a video a walk around graphic and drawings of different configurations based on how the Fire Hawk is used (firefighter transport, water drops on fires, medical transport, search and rescue and humanitarian assistance).

Not only have I seen a number of videos of the S70i Fire Hawk, Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation has done his usual excellent job as he has written several articles on the S-70i Fire Hawk, go here to see his posts tagged as Sikorsky S-70-i. As you scroll through Bill's articles you will see reporting on agency purchases of the S-70i (see for example his May 2022 article on the delivery of a Fire Hawk to CAL Fire in Prado CA and his November 2022 article about Orange County California's purchase of two Fire Hawks) and an excellent article from March 12 2022 about the agreement between Sikorsky and United Rotor for the production of the Fire Hawk. Bill was reporting from the 2022 HAI Heli-Expo, he says in part

This week at HAI Heli-Expo Sikorsky and United Rotorcraft signed an agreement formalizing how the two companies will collaborate to produce Firehawk helicopters. These specialized aircraft are configured to assist wildland firefighters, dropping up to 1,000 gallons of water to slow the spread of a wildfire, allowing personnel on the ground to more safely move in and suppress the fire.

Bill goes on to say that

An S-70 Blackhawk aircraft becomes a Firehawk helicopter when United Rotorcraft adds a 1,000-gallon (3,785-liter) water tank system, a raised landing gear (to accommodate the tank), and associated integrated avionics, a process that typically takes six months. United Rotorcraft has been the Firehawk completion teammate of Sikorsky since the late 1990s working closely with Sikorsky and first customer County of Los Angeles Fire Department, which today operates two S-70i and three S-70A Firehawk aircraft. Other operators include CAL FIRE and the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue.

For any of you that want to dive deep into the Sikorsky S-70i Fire Hawk, I urge you again to check out Bill Gabbert's posts on the Sikorsky S-70-i  as well his posts tagged Firehawk on his Fire Aviation site.

Finally, I leave you with two videos from Vertical Magazine from 2020. I first embedded these two videos in my June 19, 2020 post, I think they are worth seeing again so I am embedding them here for your convenience.

S-70i Fire Hawk avionics

Direct link to video from Vertical Magazine on YouTube


S-70i Fire Hawk walk around

Direct link to video from Vertical Magazine on YouTube



 


Friday, November 11, 2022

Remembering Veterans on Veterans Day 2022

 Today is Veterans Day here in the United States where we remember and honor all the men and women, past and present who have served in the military. I pause to say thank-you to all veterans for your service. 

I offer this four-year old video by Richard Tavernaro as remembrance and tribute to all who served in the military.


Direct link to video on YouTube

Wednesday, November 09, 2022

Erickson Aircrane (2022)

After I devoted this blog to aerial wildland firefighting and related issues in early 2009 it did not take me long to learn about the Erickson Aircrane. Over thirteen years later, I still enjoy watching videos of the Aircrane working wildfires or performing other heavy lift activities. Erickson has a nice webpage chock full of information. If you go their page on their aviation fleet you will see a link for specifications on the S-64E with a link (pdf file) for technical and performance information for the S-64E. Here is an overview of the specifications for the S-64E:

  • power plant: 2 pratt and whitney JFTD12A-4A 
  • 2 to 3 crew
  • fuselage length 70 ft (21.3 meters)
  • Maximum external cargo: 20,000 lbs (9,072 kg)
  • max speed: 115 kts.
  • max range: 217 NM

Mission specific equipment includes but is not limited to:

  • hoists
  • night vision goggles
  • fire tank
  • foam cannon
  • sea snorkle
  • pond snorkle
According to Erickson's aerial firefighting webpage the Aircrane has been used for aerial firefighting by these U.S. agencies and international agencies:
  • SDGE (San Diego Gas and Electric)
  • Los Angeles City Fire (California)
  • U.S. Forest Service
  • Oregon Department of Forestry
  • California Deptartment of Forestry and Fire Protection
  • Hellenic Fire Service (Greece)
  • The National Aerial Firefighting Center (Australia)
  • Forestal Arauco S.A. (Chile)
Erickson's aerial firefighting webpage has some short case study write-ups of some past seasons around the world along with a nice photo gallery.

Here a couple of videos I found to share with you. The first video shows an Aircrane working a wildfire in Greece.





The last video is from Australia.


Monday, November 07, 2022

Aircraft engaging in aerial firefighting: maintenance, winter and otherwise

 I know that regular maintenance of aircraft is important, including but not limited to aircraft engaged in aerial wildland firefighting. Maintenance in the United States and in other countries does not happen on a haphazard schedule but is on a schedule partly dependent on how many take-offs and landings (one  take-off and landing is called a cycle) the aircraft has flown. However, I believe that there is more to the frequency of maintenance than just cycles flown. As I am not airframe and powertrain mechanic nor do I work for a company flying aircraft on wildland fires so I am not in a position to speak knowledgeable about the specifics of aircraft maintenance. But I can say that I know enough to know how important it is that the maintenance be performed on schedule, rigorously and thoroughly. 

In June 2021, Coulson's Australia Division shared a short video on their Facebook page describing winter maintenance of their aircraft based in Australia. While a different country, they do provide an overview of the maintenance performed during the Australian winter. I shared this video (under two minutes) on my blog in June 2021

While wildfire season is almost year round in some parts of the western United States, most but not all aircraft flying fires are on some kind of contract with the federal or a state government agency. This means that they are off contract for a part of the years and it is during this time when maintenance requiring a longer time to perform is done. Earlier this year, March 4, 2022 to be exact, Aerial Fire had a nice article on Neptune Aviation Servces' Winter Maintenance Assures Year-Round Readiness, this article may be found on this page from Aerial Fire. It is a very good article (with pictures), I appreciated the article and am a little more knowledgeable about maintaining an airtanker. Clifford Lynn, Neptune's Director of Maintenance. I encourage you to take a few moments to read this article. According to Mr. Lynn:

Neptune’s maintenance team designed the FAA-approved airframe inspection program (AIP), which builds upon BAE Systems’ OEM maintenance protocol for the aircraft as a commercial jet.

As he described it, every year, each aircraft gets an A Check, a C phase check, and a D phase check.  Every two years the C check is completed and every four years the D check is completed.  These C and D phase checks include a corrosion control and structural inspection program.  The airframe, retardant tanks, and the engines are what the winter maintenance primarily targets.

“We schedule our winter maintenance, so anything due in the next 12 months, 400 hours, and/or 600 cycles is complied with during the heavy (C and D) check,” said Lynn.  “To date, the nine air tankers are averaging 300 cycles per year.  Some line replaceable units (LRU) are not changed during the checks if they have significant time on them remaining.”

Lynn added that for most life-limited components such as the landing gear, oxygen, and fire bottles, Neptune follows the OEM maintenance protocol.

Because of the stressful environment in which the aircraft fly, some components have to be inspected at more frequent intervals, he noted.  “Also, we have some additional tank-related inspections.” (obtained on November 7, 2022 from https://aerialfiremag.com/2022/03/04/neptune-aviation-services-winter-maintenance-assures-year-round-readiness/

I am sure that other aircraft companies perform appropriate maintenance on all their aircraft including but not limited to aircraft flying fires in some capacity. Thanks to all who flew fires this year helping the crews on the ground put out the wildfires.


Friday, November 04, 2022

Friday Fun: Bell 47 helicopter ride along

 I am overdue for another Friday Fun post. As I have been sharing videos about helicopters recently I wanted to find a fun and family friendly video showcasing a helicopter. I did some poking around this morning and had a hard time finding something suitable for Friday Fun when I came across a video of ride in a Bell 47 helicopter. According to The Bell 47 Light Helicopter Project, USA site, there were 16 variants of the Bell 47 with the Bell47B being a military version:

Bell 47 is a single-engine light helicopter designed by Arthur M Young and manufactured by Bell Helicopter Textron in the US. It can be used for agriculture spraying and smoke jumping. It took its maiden flight in December 1945. It became the first helicopter to be certified for commercial use in March 1946. The helicopter entered into service in the same year.

The helicopter recorded an altitude of 18,500ft in May 1949. It was used as the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s first aircraft in 1957 for firefighting support. About 5,600 of these helicopters are currently in service worldwide. Bell 47 type certificates were migrated to Scott helicopters in 2010.

The Bell 47 has 16 variants. ...

The Bell 47B is a military version and is powered by the Franklin O-335-1 piston engine. (obtained from The Bell 47 Light Helicopter Project, USA site on Nov 4, 2022.)

I believe that the Bell 47 was used in the Korean War and may have been featured on M*A*S*H.


Direct link to video from letsflyinter on YouTube


Wednesday, November 02, 2022

2022 wildfire season: WZ (Superior National Forest) 2022 crew video

 I am always on the look out for fire crews based in the region covered by the Eastern Area Coordination Center (EACC), for a map of the EACC region go here. I saw this WZ 2022 fire crew video when I was looking at 2022 fire crew videos on YouTube. From the description on the about page of the video (see the direct link below), the crew featured in the video is from the Superior National Forest (Minnesota), for information about the fire and aviation program at the Superior National Forest go to this webpage. When I saw this video and then realized that the crew featured in the video is based in the EACC region, I knew that I had to share this with you sooner rather than later. While based in northern Minnesota, from the description of the video in the closing credits, the crew worked all over the western United States in addition to service in the EACC and in Texas.


Direct link to video by Luke Macho on YouTube

Monday, October 31, 2022

Helicopter non-medical extraction during 2018 Woolsey Fire

Here is an eleven minute helmet cam video with radio feed of a helicopter extracting two people and a dog from a hilltop during the 2018 Woolsey Fire. This video left me on the edge of my seat as I watched skilled piloting by the helicopter pilot. Another example of the important work that a helicopter can do during a wildfire.


Direct link to video by Pilot Dave on YouTube

Friday, October 28, 2022

A view inside of a medivac helicopter

I posted about medivac helicopters on October 26th with a video of a medivac helicopter working in New Jersey. I knew that I wanted to embed a video of what it is like inside a typical medivac helicopter. I was hoping to find such a video of a medivac helicopter based in New Jersey or adjoining areas, but this is not to be. At least not today. However, I did find a video showing the inside of a Life Flight helicopter, shot three years ago and narrated by a young man on his EM rotation who got permission from Life Flight to do the video that I will share with you. I believe that his intended audience are folk in the medical community who might be interested in working as medical staff on a medivac helicopters, but I certainly learned a lot and I hope you do as well. 

According to this video's information, see below for the direct link and expand the about this video window, information about Life Flight may be found here. You will learn about the medical personnel on Life Flight helicopters and get a peak at some of the medical equipment on board. I know that there are medivac helicopters in my part of the United States, that like the Life Flight helicopters, are staffed with a flight nurse and an emergency medical services specialist. 

According to the Life Flight service area page serve Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. As I have friends who currently live or used to live in this part of the United States, some of whom subscribed to medivac helicopter services, it seems fitting to share this video with you. Please keep in mind that the medivac helicopters in your state may be equipped differently with different protocols and perhaps different medical personnel. 

Allow under eleven minutes to watch the video. Yes, there are some ads interspersed during the video.


Direct link to video from The Med Life on YouTube

Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Medivac Helicopters

 I have recently been writing about different ways that helicopters are used in different aspects of wildland firefighting. There are other ways that helicopters are used in wildland firefighting, but I want to take a time out from writing about those uses and write about a different use of helicopters. That is helicopters used to evacuate a patient to a hospital for treatment. This could be after a traffic accident where either the helicopter is landing near the scene of the accident are an emergency squad takes the injured person to a nearby landing zone for evacuation. Perhaps it is an evacuation from a local hospital to another hospital when the local hospital determines that the injured or sick person needs treatment at another hospital and time is of the essence. And I am sure that there are other medical uses of helicopters that I am not listing here.

I wanted to find a video of a medivac helicopter in my own state of New Jersey, and found this video if someone being transported from the Surf City New Jersey to a local trauma center. Allow about three minutes to watch the video. Thanks to all who are involved with medivac helicopter flights from local EMS to the pilots and medical personnel on the helicopter to the staff at the hospital or trauma center. You do important work and help to save lives!


Direct link to video from SP Cranford on YouTube

Monday, October 24, 2022

Aerial wildland firefighting: helicopter bucket drops

 Late on a Monday evening after a long day dealing with technology, <ick>, I want to embed a complication of helicopter bucket drops on fires. You will see dipping and dropping. Enjoy. Allow just under five minutes for the video.


Direct link to video by Bambi Bucket on YouTube

Friday, October 21, 2022

Wildland firefighting: aerial ignition by helitorches

Another use of helicopters in wildland firefighting is aerial ignition using a helitorch. A helitorch is suspended from the helicopters and is used for backfires, burnouts and prescribed burns. I found the video that on using a helitorch when I was poking around on YouTube just now. I liked what I saw and want to share it with you. Before posting, I saw that Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation shared this same video on August 6, 2015. The video was shot in 2009 by BrimAviation, enjoy!


Direct link to video by BrimAviation on Youtube

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Wildland Firefighting: more on aerial ignition by helicopters using PSDs (ping pong balls)

In my previous post, I shared a video about how helicopters are used in aerial ignition using ping pong balls or PSDs to perform backburns (go here to see my October 17th post). I follow-up on that post by embedding two more videos. 

The first video is shot in 2014 during a training run where you will see how the PSDs or ping pong balls are loaded into the assembly on the helicopter for dropping on the wildfire or controlled burn. Both videos are a few years old and perhaps some of the drop mechanisms and technology have changed, but I think you will get the idea, I know I did.

Direct link to video by Phillip Garrett on YouTube


In the second video, shot in 2013, you will hear John Holloran from the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee discuss how PSDs are loaded onto a helicopter and later dropped to help with controlled burns or prescribed fires.

Direct link to video by the Knoxville News Sentinel on YouTube.



Monday, October 17, 2022

Wildland firefighting: aerial ignition by helicopters using PSDs (ping pong balls)

 Helicopters have many uses in before, during and after wildland fires. One of the uses of helicopters is to drop small balls filled with compounds that ignite on the ground. These balls can be dropped to help with a prescribed fire as well as being dropped during a wildfire in remote areas to light a backfire. In the video below you will learn about these "ping pong balls" or PSDs are prepared and then dropped on the fire along with safety measures. I have not yet been able to find a video where you can see these PSDs being dropped on a fire. If I find one, I will amend this post.


 Direct link to video from PIO365 on YouTube

Friday, October 14, 2022

2022 wildfire season: Midewin Hotshot 2022 season video

 To the best of my knowledge, the Midewin Hotshots are the only hotshot crew based in the eastern region of the United States. They are based out of the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in Wilmington, Illinois. They have a nice Facebook page where they post including periodic posts during their season, Midewin Hotshots on Facebook. They released their 2022 season video which I am embedding below. Crew videos from past seasons may be found here. I checked out their Facebook page and saw that the Midewin Hotshots fought fires in the following regions in 2022: Eastern, Southern, Southwest, Great Basin, and Northern California, a map of the regions in the United States may be found at the Geographic Area Coordination Center National Website Portal.

According to the description of their 2022 season video, the Midewin Hotshots nine fourteen day assignments during 2022. Thanks Midewin Hotshots for all you do to keep us safe. Enjoy your off season.

Direct link to video from Midewin Hotshots on YouTube

Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Wildland Firefighting: Dozers in Action

 I have recently been thinking about the important work that dozers do in wildland firefighting operations. At the same time, I have also been thinking about wildland firefighting on the east coast of the United States. So, you guessed it, I have two short videos that I am embedding below for your viewing pleasure. I enjoyed seeing these dozers operating up and down hill. I can only imagine the skill of the dozer operators in driving their dozers.

The first video is of a dozer plowing a containment line down hill at the 2016 Bluff Mountain Fire in Tennessee.

Direct link to video from the Tennessee Division of Forestry on YouTube


In the second video from August 2022 you will see a dozer plowing uphill in support of wildfire IR mapping for the Mckinney Fire that burned near the Oregon-California border.

Direct link to video from the Siskiyou News on Youtube

Monday, October 10, 2022

2022 wildfire season: NWS Incident Meteorologist (IMET) deployments (Sept 28 to October 10)

 

As you can see from the Facebook post from the NWS IMET Operations Office that I embedded above, on September 27th, there were 10 IMETs deployed nationwide. I would imagine that since that time some of those IMETs that were deployed on September 27th have finished their deployment and returned home. Also of note is that the National Wildland Fire Preparedness level was lowered to 2 on September 27th. As I write this, to the best of my knowledge the Preparedness Level remains at 2, even so that does not mean that the worst of the fire season is over, one never knows what might happen. While IMET deployments have decreased, IMTs continue to be deployed to wildfires.  Since September 27th four IMETs have been deployed.

On September 30th, an IMET was deployed to the Moose Fire in Idaho

On October 3rd, an IMET was deployed to the Mosquito Fire in California

On October 4th an IMET was deployed to the Goat Rocks Fire in Washington.


On October 5th an IMET was deployed to the Bold Creek Fire in Washington.


IMETs save lives! Thanks all IMETs for your service.

Friday, October 07, 2022

About the National Wildland Fire Preparedness Levels and the Fire Danger Rating System in the United States

Obtained from https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information#current-level on October 10, 2022


Edited on October 10, 2022

I was looking at the NWS IMET Office on Twitter  earlier today where I noted on September 27th the National Wildland Fire Preparedness Level (NWFPL) was lowered to a rating of 2 (go here to see the post on Twitter). Now I did have something else in mind for today where I was going to start out by referencing that same post from the NWS IMET Office and I am holding off on that post for the moment. I know about the National Wildland Fire Preparedness Level (see the graphic and link above) because I see this referred to on social media wildland fire agencies. I also know that there is the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS)  used by wildland firefighters. Now I have to be honest and say that I am not certain of the similarities between the NWFPL and the NFDRS. However, I was curious about the NFDRS and found a video that I thought you might be interested in, I know that I was. I found the one I was looking for from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG). While the video seems to be focused on being a training aid for wildland firefighters, I think that watching this 10 minute video will give you an idea about what the different catagories in the NFDRS are and what they mean, and how the NFDRS is used by federal and state wildland fire fighting agencies.



Wednesday, October 05, 2022

Reflections and thanks to sources and people who help me with this blog

For reasons that I won’t go into,, I have thought often about what I try to do on this blog over the last few days. I am grateful to know of reliable resources that I can turn to from those who have more hands on knowledge of wildland fire fighting than I do. Two sites come to mind that I check out on an almost daily basis, the first one is the two websites of Bill Gabbert, Wildfire Today and Fire Aviation. He does good reporting and because I believe that he had some background in wildland, he has some first hand knowledge that I do not. His firsthand knowledge adds credence to his reporting. Then there is Mike Archers Wildfire News of the Day (WNOTD)  a five day a week e-mail where he culls together articles on wildland fires from around the world. As appropriate, I will turn to state agencies responsible for wildland firefighting and related social media (for example as a NJ resident I often refer to the NJ Forest Fire Service and the NJ Forest Fire Service Facebook and Twitter accounts), national resources such as Inciweb and the Geographic Area Coordination Centers, and local media for the area where a specific wildfire is occurring. It took me some time to learn about some of these resources and I am certain that there are some resources and other blogs on wildland firefighting that I am not aware of. 

There are many individuals in the wildland firefighting business who have taken an interest in and supported me over the years that I have been doing this blog including those of you who quietly read my blog. You answer my questions. When I have failed to be correct, you let me know so I can make a correction. Without you, this blog would not be possible.

 

Monday, October 03, 2022

New Jersey helping with recovery from Hurricane Ian

I have been following the aftermath of Hurricane Ian more than I usually do because I have some friends who had houses on the Florida gulf coast barrier islands of Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel. All my friends are alive and evacuated while others are winter residents and had not yet gone to their winter homes.

I am always interested in what New Jersey does to help other states in need after disasters. In part because I know for a fact that other states have helped us out be sending utility crews after storms. One example being the Florida electric utility crew that helped to restore power to my neighborhood after Superstorm Sandy the fall of 2012. So I was delighted when I heard from reliable sources, sorry I have no media articles to show you, that New Jersey electric utilities have sent trucks and crews down to Florida to help them restore power. In addition, the New Jersey Red Cross has sent a team down to Florida, see this article from News 12 New Jersey for more information

Just this morning, thanks to the NJ Forest Fire Service Section B10, I saw the following video showing footage of the deployment of New Jersey Task Force 1 to Florida on October 1, 2022. According to their website The New Jersey Task Force 1 is one of 28 FEMA urban search and rescue teams in the country.

Direct link to video from Shane Branin on YouTube


I know that other states have sent various teams to help Florida and South Carolina recover from the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. Even so, I am so very proud of New Jersey for helping out Florida in their time of great need after the devastation of Hurricane Ian.

Friday, September 30, 2022

Friday Fun: Stearman biplanes performing flybys

On this edition of Friday Fun, I offer a video from AirshowStuffVideos of two WWII-era Stearman Biplanes performing at the 2021 Wings fo the North AirExpo. Allow less than seven minutes to watch the video.


Direct link to video from AirshowStuffVideos on YouTube

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Hurricane Hunters fly into Hurricane Ian

 I have spent much of the morning in touch with a good friend on the gulf coast of Florida relaying information to her about Hurricane Ian as they are having a difficult time with communications and getting current information on Hurricane Ian. It therefore seems appropriate and fitting within the aviation focus of this blog to share two videos of our wonderful Hurricane Hunter Aircraft flying into Ian. Before I do, I have previously posted many articles on Hurricane Hunters that my be found here, note these are articles tagged Hurricane Hunters. I also have to be quick because I have to recharge my wireless mouse in advance of a midday online commitment.



Monday, September 26, 2022

Life of an Incident Meteorologist: NOAA photo story

 I have a deep respect for the work that National Weather Service specially trained Incident Meteorologists (IMETs) do. IMETs are deployed for up to two weeks to provide weather forecasts specific to a wildfire. If you are like me, and I believe that some of you are, then you are wondering what it is like for an IMET on the fire line this summer. This photo story from NOAA called "Fighting Fire with Forecasts" provides an answer. Enjoy! IMETs save lives. If you have trouble accessing the tweet from the NWS IMET Operations or prefer not to access Twitter, here is the direct link to the NOAA photo story "Fighting Fire with Forecasts". Plan on spending some time with the photo story, there are several photos and a couple of videos.


Saturday, September 24, 2022

About the Great Basin Smokejumpers

Better late than never. I had my Omicron Covid booster yesterday and was a little out of it. So this is late. Enjoy this short video about the Great Basin Smokejumpers by the National Interagency Fire Center.

Direct link to video on YouTube by the National Interagency Fire Center

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

2022 wildfire season: NJ Forest Fire Service crews working in TX & MT

 Here in New Jersey we have been in a drought for the last couple of months and I know that the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) have been working to keep us in New Jersey as safe as possible from wildfires. I know that each year the NJFFS responds to requests to help wildland firefighters in other parts of the country to fight wildfires and this year is no exception. At no time did they put New Jersey at risk by sending crews and engines to assist crews in other parts of the country. I am always honored by the service of the NJFFS crews and engines working in other parts of the country, I am so proud of the NJFFS crews. This year NJFFS crews and engines have worked in Texas, Montana and Idaho. Typically, crews work on two week rotations.


Monday, September 19, 2022

A little more about wildland firefighting in Maryland

After returning from a short trip to the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland on Friday, I was curious to see what I could learn about wildland fires in Maryland. It did not take me long to find the Maryland DNR's Forest Service Wildland Fire Page. Fire season peaks in the spring and the fall, similar to others areas in the mid-atlantic region. They have a nice downloadable page on wildfire behavior in Maryland

The first thing I checked out was their history page (pdf), the Maryland Forest Service was founded in 1906, the same year they started to fight wildfires. At one time there were many fire towers in Maryland, only a few currently remain. Today Maryland DNR has much of the same equipment and vehicles as other wildland fire fighting agencies: engines of various sizes and dozers along with GPS capability and vastly improved communications.

Finally, I was curious about the acreage burned by wildfires in Maryland. I found no information on wildfires in 2022, but perhaps I was not looking in the right place. I did find a page of wildfire statistics with annual reports from 2004 to 2021. I looked at the 2021 Wildfire Summary Report by the Maryland DNR. What follows is some information from the 2021 report:

  • 102 fires burned 1,363 acres. 
  • Looking at acreage burned, seven fires in January burning 973.8 acres, the second highest month was December where 17 fires burned 211 acres. 
  • Current v ten year average
    • number of fires: 102 wildfires in 2021, ten-year average is 122.4
    • acreage burned: 1,363 acres burned in 2021 compared with a ten-year average of 1,947.5
  • There is an active prescribed burning program with 2,769.2 acres in the 2021 prescribed burning program scattered across the state.
What I did not post here was the information that can be found in the daily intelligence briefings from the Eastern Area Coordination Center. I did take a peak at their EACC Detailed Situation Report by Protection Area (daily at least during fire season). There is a wealth of information in this report for the states in the Eastern Region. For example, in the report dated September 18, 2022, I saw that the 2 human-caused fires burned 18 acres in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge which I visited last week. I believe but am not certain there have been 12 prescribed burns in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge to date for 2,156 acres burned.

Finally, I did get the feeling that as in other States, local fire companies provide mutual aid as needed to the Maryland DNR firefighters. I do not know what aerial resources Maryland uses to fight and/or observe wildfires. I do not mean to imply that are no aerial resources, just that I do not know about such resources.

I know that I am barely touching the surface of fighting wildland fires in Maryland. I do so to show that I am interested. I am hoping to follow a social media site that might help me keep in touch with Maryland and Delaware wildland fire news. 




Saturday, September 17, 2022

Prescribed burning at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (Chesapeake Bay)

I got back yesterday from a short trip with some good friends to the Chesapeake Bay region in Maryland. We only had three days there and one of the treasures was the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge near Cambridge, Maryland. Always being on the alert for anything about wildfires, in this case prescribed burns, when we got to the visitors center of Blackwater, I noted that they had a display talking about prescribed burning in the refuge and why it is important. I was not thinking at the time, so I did not take a photo to share with you. I did appreciate and applaud the Fish and Wildlife Service for putting up this display to educate the public about the importance of prescribed burning. 

We were there twice, the second time we were there, I was asking one of the rangers if there was any flooding on the shorter driving tour that we were going to take, there was not. By the way, this was our second time on the driving tour. Anyway, she took the time to tell me that there was a prescribed burn going on, that we might see smoke. If there was any smoke, we were distracted by looking at the beauty of Blackwater, and later troubleshooting our maps app so we could get back to the place we were staying. Anyway, I do appreciate this prescribed burn in preparation for planting winter crops to support wildlife.

I thought that some of you might enjoy getting to know the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge so I am sharing a video of the driving tour we took. This was shot in the summer of 2020 by the Friends of Blackwater


Direct link to video on YouTube by the Friends of Blackwater NWR

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Aerial fire fighting tactics

 I was looking for something different to post today and came across this video from 2015 that I had bookmarked for later posting. The video is called "Basic Tactics" and is shot from a camera mounted on the aircraft, perhaps on the wing. You will listen to radio conversations directing the aerial attack on the fire with some printed commentary telling you what is going on. I always enjoy these videos, I always learn. Enjoy.


Direct link to video on YouTube

Monday, September 12, 2022

Reflections on a little rain during a drought

 


This is the current Drought Monitor Map for the area covered by the NWS Philadelphia/Mt Holly Weather Forecast Office. We have had some beneficial rains over the last week, some of which may not be reflected in this map. I do not know enough to know what the situation will be when the next Drought Monitor Map is issued, will there be a slight change for the better? I am not a Meteorologist, but I suspect that we need several beneficial rainfalls before we come out of the drought. However, I along with my trees and other greenery are grateful for the rain. I am not letting up on my efforts to conserve water.

What I do know is that last weeks beneficial rains and perhaps today's rains mean that the wildland firefighters in my area got a bit of break. According to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, fire danger today is low (map is updated daily, as it was last week following the beneficial rains (what you see will likely be different as conditions change). While I am grateful that the fire danger in New Jersey has been low the last few days, it is no time to be complacent. Wildfires can still happen. the crews of the NJFFS have not put away their equipment and trucks, they are still on call if the need should arise. 

I thank the wildland firefighters of the NJ Forest Fire Service and those in adjoining states for your service. Stay safe.

Friday, September 09, 2022

NOAA Satellites looking at wildfires

Coming off of a busier than normal couple of days, so I am sharing three videos of NOAA Satellites looking at wildfires. All three videos are from four to six weeks ago.

Fires Across Europe



Fires Across Alaska


Fire near Yosemite

Thursday, September 08, 2022

Wildfire History: Lockheed P2V airtanker operations in 2017.

 I got side tracked yesterday with some unexpected business and was unable to make my usual Wednesday blog entry. I will be tied up with that same business this afternoon but I diid want to take a few moments to post. In this case, this is a video from Bob Webb showing the pilots view of air operations in steep terrain behind a lead plane. Enjoy


Direct link to video on YouTube from Bob Webb