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.