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

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