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!
CAL FIRE (CDF) S2T Tanker 71 working Sawtooth Complex Fire (2006)
Sawtooth Complex Fire (Sept. 2006), San Bernardino County CA. Photo Credit: U.S. Forest Service
Showing posts with label aerial ignition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aerial ignition. Show all posts
Friday, October 21, 2022
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.
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