Density altitude defined, effect on airtanker performance (part 2 of 3)

Low density air means high density altitude. An air tanker pilot friend, G, explains:

High density altitude is called that because the low density air found in hot air mimics the air found at HIGH altitudes. At HIGH altitudes and HIGH temperatures, there is not only less air for an engine to "breathe", but there is less air for the wings to ride on as well.

High density altitude is also known as performance altitude. High density altitude caused by high temperatures and high humidity can occur at lower elevations but is more of a problem at airports at higher elevations such as those in California and the southwest. If you are based at an airport at 3,000 feet above sea level and the air temperature is hot (e.g. 95 degrees) your performance altitude is going to be higher. The higher the density altitude the longer runway you will need to take off at a given gross weight. This can be computed and G explains how this works:

The entire exercise of computing density altitude is used to predict aircraft performance on hot days or in high places or both. All the airplane manufactures publish charts that help you determine how much runway you'll need at a particular gross weight and a particular altitude.  You add up the weights, figure the density altitude, (which tells you the altitude your airplane will act like its flying at), go to the performance charts and you find that at 8800 ft and full gross weight, your airplane needs, say, 6500 feet of runway to get airborne.  If the airport you are parked at only has 4000 feet of runway, you're hosed.  You either get rid of some weight, or wait until evening when the air cools.

What this means for air tanker pilots is that tankers working wildfires, e.g. in California or the southwest, may be forced to carry lower loads of retardant in order to compensate for higher density altitudes.

In my final article on density altitude, posting this Sunday, I will write a short piece on how density altitude affects helicopters.

Density Altitude defined (part 1 of 3)

One of the reasons that airplanes fly is because of lift. Lift is created by air molecules (oxygen) flowing over the wings. More air molecules (high density air) means more air molecules flowing over the wings and greater lift. Conversely, fewer air molecules or lower density air means less lift because fewer air molecules are flowing over the wing.

Three factors, either singly or in combination, contribute to low density air: (1) higher altitude, (2) higher temperatures because air expands when it is heated, and (3) higher relative humidity because more water molecules mean fewer air molecules.

Low density air affects engine performance. One of my pilot friends, whom I will call T, explains:

Simply put, the lower the air density, the lower the oxygen level.

For carbureted engines, such as an automobile, less oxygen means less horsepower.  The higher you go in altitude, the air density lowers.

Example:  Suppose you were on a straight highway that went from sea level to 12,000 feet above sea level.  It doesn't matter how long it takes to get to the top, but we'll say 100 miles.  Simple math tells us that the road will rise 120 feet per mile.  As we travel along, we're getting higher in altitude and the oxygen is getting thinner as we go.  After awhile, the car isn't running too well.
       
1.  As there is less oxygen to burn at higher altitudes, the engine can't burn fuel as well as it could at the bottom.
2.  As air density decreases, so does available horsepower.
       
In newer vehicles, the computer module can adjust the fuel mixture a little bit, but not like aircraft.  In an aircraft, the pilot can adjust the fuel mixture the entire range from full rich, to a lean idle cut-off.  This is a necessity due to air density.

Coming up on Oct. 16: density altitude and air tanker performance

NJ Forest Fire Service Staff at 76%

Before I begin writing about density altitude tomorrow, I want to take the opportunity to write about the staffing situation at the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. As I understand it, there are 21 vacant positions out of 89 positions allocated to the NJ Forest Fire Service for a staffing rate of 76 percent. This scares me. I don't want to let our wet summer and September lull me into a false sense of security.

So far we have been lucky this year, if you check the numbers on the NJ Forest Fire Service website, you will see that from Jan. 1, 2009 through Oct. 5, 2009 there were 683 wildland fires statewide burning a total of 1,076 acres. Their goal is to keep wildland fires under 2,000 acres. Perhaps we will make it. What happens if we have another major conflagration such as the 15,500 acre Warren Grove Fire (May 2007) that burned in an area of the Pine Barrens known as the East Pine Plains. From what I understand, the East Pine Plains consists of one of the more volatile vegetative types. I also understand that it took about twenty days to bring this fire under control.

I took the above photo in March 2009, not far from Warren Grove, NJ (where the fire started) on county rte. 579. While you can see new post fire growth in this picture, I choose this photo because you get some idea of the extent of the fire

What would happen today if another fire the size of Warren Grove occurred? It could happen. If there were other wildland fires burning at the same time, would we have enough personnel? What happens if we enter into a dry period here in New Jersey as we did in the mid-nineties when there was one year when the pine barrens burned in central Jersey to be followed by a wildfire along the Kittatiny Ridge in northern NJ. To see some videos of the Warren Grove Fire, Section B-10 of the NJ Forest Fire Service was a page on youtube, it may be found here.

Please, take a few moments and go here to read a very good and detailed update about critical issues facing the NJ Forest Fire Service. I have only very briefly touched on these issues here, and I urge you -- especially NJ residents -- to read this report. And if this is happening to us here in NJ, perhaps it is happening to you as well.

To my friends in the NJ Forest Fire Service, I write this for you. Stay safe and thank-you for all you do!

Firefighting Art

I have finished writing about temporary flight restrictions and fire traffic areas, at least for now. I have to say that I have a learned a lot while writing that series. I have increased respect for the pilots and crew, ground crews on the bases, as well as all those of you working behind the scenes to keep firefighting aircraft and crew safe, including but not limited to Ben Hinkle is growing. Thank-you.

I have to take a what I hope is brief time-out before moving on to density altitude. I hope to begin posting on density altitude either on Wednesday or Thursday of this week. In the meantime, I found this video on youtube by Patrick Karnahan. Patrick worked for the U.S. Forest Service, including one summer as a lookout. He is also a painter, having painted for the USFS and a songwriter.  To read a little more about Patrick, go to this link on youtube and click on more info in the box on the upper right corner. Patrick also has a website that may be found here. I like Patrick's art for his depiction of both ground crews and aerial support.

Enjoy!

Fire Traffic Areas explained

The graphic above shows what is known as a Fire Traffic Area (FTA). It differs from temporary flight restrictions in that an FTA is not a part of the National Airspace System. However, it does serve a vital function in keeping fire fighting aircraft safe as they do their business. 

The fire traffic area was designed and implemented after the 2001 mid-air collision of tankers 92 and 87 near Ukiah CA in order to provide a safe working environment for aircraft working a fire. A typical fire traffic area is five nautical mile (nm) radius from the fire. Different types of aircraft working a fire are assigned altitudes based on their functions at the time. Aircraft are expected to maintain the altitude separations expressed in this graphic. The two most important aspects of the fire traffic area are communications and discipline.

The air tactical group supervisor (ATGS) circles with right turns at approximately 2,500 feet above ground level. What does the ATGS do? The 2009 Interagency Aerial Supervision Guide (NFES 2544, p. 3) provides an answer:

The ATGS manages incident airspace and controls incident air traffic. The ATGS is an airborne firefighter who coordinates, assigns, and evaluates the use of aerial resources in support of incident objectives. The ATGS is the link between ground personnel and incident aircraft. The ATGS must collaborate with ground personnel to develop and implement tactical and logistical missions on an incident. The ATGS must also work with dispatch staff to coordinate the ordering, assignment, and release of incident aircraft in accordance with the needs of fire management and incident command personnel.

Before tankers enter the fire traffic area they orbit at the initial contact ring at 12 nautical miles. Here the pilot communicates, and only after getting clearance does the tanker enter the fire traffic area. If the pilot is unable to establish communications, they hold at the 7 nautical mile NOCOM ring, with left turns, until they are established.

Ok, looking at the bottom of the FTA in the graphic, the helicopters are maneuvering at approximately 500 feet above ground level. The tanker maneuvering altitude where they circle to line up and prepare for the actual drop is at 1,000 ft AGL. Five hundred above, at 1,500 ft AGL, is the altitude at which tankers enter the FTA, maintaining a left turn orbit until it is their turn to enter the tanker maneuvering altitude.

More information on fire traffic areas may be found in this power point presentation. If you look at this power point presentation, you will see that for larger fires temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) may have bigger dimensions than the FTA. In situations such as these, initial points (IP's) will be used on transition routes into and away from the fire. As I understand the tanker pilot will make radio contact at the IP which is usually an easy to identify landmark such as a lake or a bridge.

One of my air tanker pilot friends sums up fire traffic areas this way:

The FTA works great, and is one of the best innovations I have witnessed in aerial fire fighting.

Requesting TFRs, part 2 of 2

 Tyler: Can you give me an idea of the factors that might determine when it is necessary to have a TFR over a fire?

Ben:

• Numbers of aircraft
• Military airspace
• MTR (military training routes)
• Local air traffic
• Navigation aids
• High probability of aircraft transiting the area etc…
• Regrettably most IC’s will order a TFR on any fire; I don’t believe this to be a good idea. We impact the National Airspace System to the point where in any given year we have been 40 percent of all the TFR’s in the nation. Quite an impact. Here are some numbers (as of 10/1/09 at 3 PM EDT):

|-------+------+--------+-------+---------------|
| Year  | Fire | Other  | Total | Percent Fire  |
|-------+------+--------+-------+---------------|
| 2009  | 433  |  3549  | 3982  |     10.9%     |
|-------+------+--------+-------+---------------|
| 2008  | 631  |  3367  | 3998  |     15.8%     |
|-------+------+--------+-------+---------------|
| 2007  | 865  |  2440  | 3305  |     26.2%     |
|-------+------+--------+-------+---------------|
| 2006  | 929  |  2797  | 3726  |     24.9%     |
|-------+------+--------+-------+---------------|
| 2005  | 493  |  2048  | 2541  |     19.4%     |
|-------+------+--------+-------+---------------|
| 2004  | 500  |  2031  | 2531  |     19.8%     |
|-------+------+--------+-------+---------------|
| 2003  | 781  |  1372  | 2153  |     36.3%     |
|-------+------+--------+-------+---------------|
| 2002  | 927  |  1508  | 2435  |     38.1%     |
|-------+------+--------+-------+---------------|

Tyler: Navigational aids (naivaids) may mean lots of air traffic flying to the navaid. I understand that military aircrafts travel at very high speeds, so they need areas in which to maneuver. Fires might be located near a large airport. Can you elaborate a little on these types of situations.

Ben: We have excellent communication with the Military and dispatch should and will deconflict the mtr (military training route), i.e. tell them what we have and they will most often work with us. TFR's are issued up and around Navaids, but take an airport like Denver and you have a large fire (as we did) on the arrival gate and the FAA and ATC fought the TFR. The column was so large a lot of the airliners did not appreciate going thru it though, so we ended up getting it.

Tyler: In an "ideal situation", will dispatch call the ATC at a nearby airport, for example a fire near Boise, to give them a heads up that a fire TFR is being requested?

Ben: Boise ID, Missoula MT , Grand Junction CO and other airports that are used to fire pick that up right away as allot of the fire aircraft orginate from them. Towers in the area would get the notam and notify pilots either via ATIS if it is their vicinity.

I'd like to thank Ben for taking the time for our e-mail correspondence, and making this two-part article possible. Thank-you Ben. I will be writing about fire traffic areas in my next couple of posts.

Requesting Fire TFRs part 1 of 2

Wildland fires are of different size, in easily accessible terrain, near residences, and very remote and difficult to access terrain. Some fires can be contained during the initial attack phase with or without air support. Other fires go beyond initial attack to extended attack. What determines if a temporary flight restriction (TFR) will be requested?

A friend who flys S-2's for CAL Fire told me that TFRs may "not be needed for initial attack but when the ATGS (Air Tactical Group Supervisor) feels it's going to become a big fire, he might send a request through the local CAL fire dispatch to the FAA for a TFR and ask local airports to include this information in the Automated Terminal Information System (ATIS)."

The ATIS is an automated continuous message broadcast by larger airports communicating what is known as "noncontrol" information such as ceiling and visibility, wind, runways in use, altimeter setting, etc.

This e-mail correspondence with my friend from CAL Fire left me wanting to learn more about fire TFRs. Among other things, I was left with the question of exactly how the process of requesting fire TFRs works (e.g. fires on USFS or BLM lands), and what some of the problems are. Wanting to learn more about the process of requesting fire TFRs, I reached out to Ben Hinkle of the BLM aviation office. We have exchanged several e-mails, and I have learned a lot from him.

Tyler: what process is the process of requesting a TFR once someone in charge of a wildland fire decides to request a TFR. He said:

Ben: "The incident commander (IC) will place an order through Dispatch for the TFR. As an ATGS may or may not be on scene, or any other aircraft for that matter. The ATGS also recommends TFR’s as well as the dimensions. Dispatch depending on their local and protocol will request a TFR through the NOTAM entry system (NES). Dispatch offices have various levels that feed up in their bureaucracy. There is a form that would be used to request whoever in their food chain will enter the request into the NES." [The NES is a password protected internet based system used by authorized persons to request the NOTAM.]

Tyler: Having read NOTAMs online, I know that longitudes and latitudes are needed when a TFR is requested. In the case of a circular TFR, only one point will be needed. If the TFR is a polygon, four points will be needed. Who supplies these points, someone on the fire or the dispatcher?

Ben: "Most every engine and fire fighter carries a GPS these days. Most likely they will know. Also aircraft will back it up. Dispatch would then plot it using various means to come up with the shape of the TFR. Lat Longs for TFR's must be in minutes seconds vs minutes tenths as faa charts are in minutes seconds. Aircraft contracts require GPS to be in minutes tenths (DOI and USFS). Just another monkey in the peanuts!"

Tyler : How long it takes from the time a TFR is requested to the time it is established:

Ben "We REQUEST a notam and it may or may not be issued. TFR’s are Flight Data Center NOTAMS (FDC) and are regulations that are the law when issued. Quite impressive when you think something like one of our TFR’s as a regulation can be issued with an hour. Depending on the protocol in the region the TFR was requested this may take only an hour or 24 hours."

Tyler: I had some correspondence with a friend who is a former air tanker pilot. He was telling me that that "sometimes the location of the fire in a high density air traffic area may dictate that a TFR be requested, even if the fire is small and will probably be put out." Can you comment on this?

Ben: "Well it may dictate that we try to establish it, but the FAA has refused to issue TFR’s in such areas in the past. FAR 91.137 A 2 says the ATC (air traffic controller) can route an aircraft through a fire TFR. We request the TFR and the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) will issue it or not."

He sent me a copy of FAR (Federal Aviation Regulation) 91.137 A 2

Any of these conditions can allow a non particpating aircraft to fly thru a
fire TFR.

• Aircraft is participating in relief activities under the direction of the official in charge of on-scene emergency response activities
• Operating under ATC approved IFR (instrument flight rules) flight plan
• Carrying law enforcement officials
• Accredited media under a flight plan approved by the FSS (flight service station) or ATC facility specified in the NOTAM, and at an altitude above those being utilized by relief aircraft, unless authorized by disaster officials; or…
• Operations directly to/from airport within the TFR, 
• or as required to maintain VFR due to weather or terrain,
• and with the approval of the specified FSS or ATC facility,
• and the operation does not hamper or endanger relief efforts,
• and the operation is not to observe the incident!

Stay tuned for part 2 on October 7.

Map of fire TFR: from the Station Fire

The National Interagency Airspace Information website has a very good website where you can search for information on all TFRs by state, type (fire, laser, nuclear, presidential, and stadium). The also have links for recent, and pending TFRs as well as canceled TFRs. In addition, there is an interactive map where you can plot TFRs with options for different kinds of maps.

A note on laser TFRs (bounded by skinny bright purple circles on charts available through airspace.nifc), laser light shows require TFRs because they interfere with a pilots vision. Not good for anyone, especially someone piloting an aircraft. To the best of my knowledge there are no laser light TFRs shown on the above image. The purple lines and shapes of various widths on the above image are not laser light TFRs, but depict different kinds of airspace.

When you search for TFRs, for example by state, you are presented with a screen showing the actual NOTAM text for each TFR in that state with options to print that portion of the sectional (aeronautical chart) with the TFR plotted on the map. You can also search by type and see only the fire TFRs.

The image above shows the TFR for the Station Fire that I printed about three weeks ago. Actually, I was able to print the map to a pdf file and then used a graphics conversion program to save it is a jpeg file for posting here. The green circles on the map are stadium/sports TFRs. The area within the red polygon was the Station Fire TFR. As I mentioned in my last post, aeronautical charts take some getting used go and I am only beginning to get use to them myself. But they do mean something to pilots.

Here is a copy of the actual NOTAM, note that the number of NOTAM (9/7722) matches the number on the image (9/7792):

NOTAM : 9/7792

FDC 9/7792 ZLA CA.. FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS NORTH OF LA CANADA, CA. EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. PURSUANT TO 14 CFR SECTION 91.137(A)(2) TEMPORARY FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT WITHIN AN AREA BOUNDED BY 343137N/1181838W OR THE VAN NUYS /VNY/ VOR/DME 011 DEGREE RADIAL AT 20.2 NAUTICAL MILES THEN TO 342548N/1175006W OR THE PALMDALE /PMD/ VORTAC 122 DEGREE RADIAL AT 16.5 NAUTICAL MILES THEN TO 340811N/1175831W OR THE POMONA /POM/ VORTAC 275 DEGREE RADIAL AT 9.9 NAUTICAL MILES THEN TO 341228N/1181301W OR THE VAN NUYS /VNY/ VOR/DME 079 DEGREE RADIAL AT 13.7 NAUTICAL MILES THEN TO 342013N/1183014W OR THE VAN NUYS /VNY/ VOR/DME 340 DEGREE RADIAL AT 6.8 NAUTICAL MILES BACK TO THE ORIGINAL POINT AT AND BELOW 9000 FEET MSL TO PROVIDE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT FOR FIRE FIGHTING. THE ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST TELEPHONE 661-723-3620 OR FREQ 135.350/STATION FIRE IS IN CHARGE OF THE OPERATION. LOS ANGELES /ZLA/ ARTCC TELEPHONE 661-265-8205 IS THE FAA COORDINATION FACILITY.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I got the text of the NOTAM from the FAA website very shortly after the NOTAM expired. I showed this text and the above image to a couple of my airtanker pilot friends who said that while they would have preferred to look at the actual aeronautical chart to be certain, that the text seems to be very close to the mapped NOTAM.

Fly clear of wildfires

Intro to airspace

A couple of months ago, I went out and purchased aeronautical charts from one of my local general aviation airports and have been spending time learning how to read these charts. I have been aided by my air tanker pilot friends along with some resources on the internet that I was referred to. While it is getting easier for me to read charts and have a very basic understanding of the complexities of air space, I am not exactly in a position where I feel comfortable trying to write this up for you.

Rather, there are a few of documents that I will refer you to. If you can only read one, read the first one on the list, Airspace for Everyone.

1. Airspace for Everyone. This brochure is from the the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association's Air Safety Foundation. It is written for pilots and might be a little technical for some, but it contains good information with pictures and it isn't too long. There is a good section on NOTAMs and temporary flight restrictions towards the end of the document.

2. VFR aeronautical chart introduction. This document is a short introduction to aeronautical charts, I have used this in combination with the next item on the list as I have learned to read aeronautical charts.

3. Airspace flash cards. This is another document from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association's Air Safety Foundation. This was link was sent to me by one of my airtanker pilot friends and I use it all the time. I sit down with my aeronautical charts and these flashcards and the charts begin to make a little more sense.

What are NOTAMs and TFRs?

What exactly are Notices to Airmen?

Notices to Airmen have

Information that might affect the safety of a flight, such as a runway closure, Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR), NAVAID outage, lighting system change, etc., is available from your flight station briefer. ... Checking for Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) is absolutely essential; they are published as NOTAMs." (Gardener, Bob.1985-2007. The Complete Private Pilot, Tenth Edition (The Complete Pilot Series). Newcastle WA: Aviation Supplies and Academics (pp. 4-19 to 4-20)).

I have been doing some reading on the side about flying under visual flight rules (VFR) so I will describe the terminology used in the preceding paragraph in this context. A NAVAID is short for navigation aids used by pilots, including radio aids to navigation. Lighting system change refers to changes or outages in runway lighting. Before taking off, a pilot flying under VFR will get a briefing on weather conditions and NOTAMs (including TFRs) from a flight service officer at their local flight service station. Pilots may also access a preflight weather briefing online.

NOTAMs have information that the Federal Aviation Administration has determined that pilots need to know for their safety, the safety of other aircraft, and the safety of those on the ground. Before any pilot (air tanker, commercial, private) takes off, they must get NOTAMs covering their planned route as well as primary and back-up airports from their local flight service officer.

NOTAMS can be informational or restrictive. Informational or advisory NOTAMs include: runway restrictions, changes in hours of air traffic control towers, navigational aid outage, taxiway closures, workers and equipment on the runways, and animals on or near the runway.

Temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) are examples of regulatory (legal) NOTAMs. Examples of TFRs include travel by the President; gatherings such as the recent G20 in Pittsburgh PA; major sporting events and aerial demonstrations and hazards including fires, toxic gas spills, and sites of aircraft accidents.

For a more detailed discussion on NOTAMs and TFRs -- including a listing of each of all the different types of NOTAMS with a further breakdown of the different categories of TFRs see chapter 6 of the Interagency Airspace Coordination Guide. Individual chapters from this guide as well as the entire guide may be found here.

I have also found Bob Gardner's explanation of NOTAMs in The Complete Pilot to be very easy to understand. In fact, I find myself referring to this book more and more as I continue to write about fixed-wing aircraft. I picked up a copy at my local bookstore, and I am very glad that I did.

For our purposes, I will single out what are sometimes referred to hazard TFRs, and in particular fire TFRs. Stay tuned for an example of what a fire TFR looks like on an aeronautical chart.

Upcoming: Temporary Flight Restrictions and Fire Traffic Areas

As I was watching some live news helo feed of the Station Fire on the internet in late August and early September I realized, with the help of some of my air tanker pilot friends, that there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes to keep air tankers and helicopters safe as they work wildland fires. In addition there are issues that are directly correlated with making effective retardant or water/foam drops: proper drop height and speed, retardant coverage levels, and the like. Finally, there are factors that come into to play to determine how much weight (including retardant and water) that an aircraft can safely carry. I thought that I'd spend some time writing about these issues, and others that I may not have thought of yet. I have written about some already: such as fire traffic areas, making effective retardant drops, and retardant coverage levels. I may have mentioned some only in passing, so to speak. All bear repeating and further elaboration.

I was going to start by writing about something known as fire traffic areas (FTAs) in the air space immediately above and surrounding wildland fires. Briefly,

"The FTA was developed by aerial firefighting personnel to provide a standardized initial attack airspace structure to enhance air traffic separation over wildfire (or all risk) incidents. ... The structure emphasizes established communications, received and understood clearances, and compliance with the clearances. The intent is that an aircraft will NOT enter the FTA until it receives a clearance. Interagency Airspace Coordination Guide (2003), Chapter 7, Airspace Deconfliction, pages 7-6 to 7-7)"

As I was thinking about writing about FTAs, I decided that I should start with writing about Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) and Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs). I am going to write at least four articles on TFRs beginning in a day or two. Then I will write about FTAs. After I finish with TFRs and FTAs I will write about the other issues that I mentioned in the first paragraph.

In my first article on TFRs, I will talk about the different kinds of Notices to Airmen (NOTAM), of which a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is just one type of NOTAM. Stay tuned.

I found the above image, from the Florida Div. of Forestry, on the Interagency Airspace Coodination website, along with a couple of other airspace safety posters.

Helitankers and more from the Station Fire

This video is just over 7 minutes with shots of two helitankers loading retardant from dip tanks at what looks like a mobile retardant base. But the footage is more that shots of helitankers filling their belly tanks, there is some awesome photography of groundcrews and airtankers interspersed with the footage of the helitankers filling their bellies.

Newscrew's close encounter with Phoscheck

Firefighting Aircraft Memorial

I have come across this Firefighting Aircraft Memorial in memory of tankers/crews stationed at Ryan Air Attack Base. A friend sent this to me the other day. There is a beautiful poem on the memorial site. I have found these words soothing and I offer it to you.

In memorium of tankers/crews

This video tells the story in song of Tanker 123-- PB4Y-2, N7520C and her crew who crashed while fighting the Big Elk Fire near Estes Park, Colorado on July 18, 2002.

I offer this in memory of all who have died in crashes fighting wildland fires. May you fly with favorable tail winds, soaring in the thermals with the eagles.

Fire Pirates video

And speaking of tankers/crew

I was going to start a new series today on temporary flight restrictions and fire traffic areas, but I need a couple more days to finish my research. In the meantime, I just found this video on youtube. I think it sort of fits in with the post I made two days ago.

Elegance in action: watching air tankers

I had the privilege of spending a few minutes watching an air tanker on live news helo feed as she worked the Station Fire about three weeks ago. Much of it was prior to making the drop.

Elegance in action, an air tanker and her crew.

There was a fluidity of motion as I could almost see the special relationship between air tanker and crew. They were as one as they maneuvered into the right position at just the right height and speed for the drop. They nailed the retardant drop.

I know of the danger that is a very real part of what these pilots and crew do. As I watched the footage the aura of danger, while still there, faded into the background. In it's place was elegance as tanker and crew did something special, dropping retardant on a fire. Thanks to some incredible camera work from the news helo and the wonders of the internet, I had a live, up close, and birds eye view of elegance in action.

Reflections on firefighting operations on Mt. Wilson

About three weeks have passed since I was following live news helicopter feeds of the Station Fire that was burning in the area of the Angeles National Forest and environs. I was able to watch the early phase of the ground fire fighting operations on Mt. Wilson along with some retardant drops by air tankers, and the Martin Mars making a water/foam drop. Being a little superstitious, I wanted to wait until after these operations were over before writing my reflections on firefighting operations on Mt. Wilson.

I don't mind telling you that I was a little worried about what would happen to the Mt. Wilson Observatory on the evening of August 30 into August 31 into September 1. I woke up each morning and checked on the internet to see if the fire had reached the observatory and the nearby communication towers. It had not.

It was Tuesday September 1 and it was in the early afternoon my time (EDT). A friend had clued me in that there was some live news helo feed of Mt. Wilson. As I was tuning in, I was not sure if there were any firefighters on Mt. Wilson. I could be wrong, but at the time I thought that the ground crews were pulled out of Mt. Wilson a couple of days earlier due to safety concerns. The news helo feed was very good with nice clear video. I was able to see ground crews digging line. I read later that ground crews were back on the mountain, perhaps by the prior morning working on digging line and cleaning out brush, leaf litter, and other vegetation. I was thrilled to see these ground crews, As the camera on the news helo moved around, I saw other ground crews digging line. My fears of the past 36 hours began to fade, turning to hope.

Then the camera turned to the one access road up the mountain. I saw around four engines, maybe more coming up the mountain. The calvary had arrived. I'm not ashamed to say that there were tears in my eyes as I watched this caravan of engines arrive at Mt. Wilson knew at that time that the odds were now in favor of saving the observatory.

I was very glad that I was watching this live, it was special.

Stay safe!

More firefighting helicopters

It recently came to my attention that I left out some helicopters when I wrote about different types of helicopters used in wild land firefighting a few months ago. Of note, I left out two of Columbia Helicopters, the Boeing 234 Chinook (3,000 gallon bucket for firefighting operations) and the Boeing/Kawasaki 107 Veritol (1,100 gallon bucket). If you look in the operations menu on Columbia's has homepage under flight operations you will find their fire operations page where you may find more information.

I also left out the Sikorsky S-70 Firehawk. The S-70 used by the LA County Fire Department has a 1,000 gallon fixed tank on its belly. For more on the LA County Fire Department's air operations, including the S-70, go here.

These are three helicopters that I have not yet written about, and be assured that I am aware that there are others that I need to write about. I am in the process of gathering data on these helicopters with the help of a knowledgeable friend. Look for this series in two to four weeks, perhaps little longer.

Mt. Wilson timelapse (Sept. 4-7)

While I was sans internet access, a friend shared this youtube video of photos from the Mt. Wilson webcam (timelapse) taken from Sept. 4 through 7. I share this with you now.

on retardant and aerial firefighting

I saw a good article on inciweb last week about retardant and aerial fire fighting. It is called Retarding the Flames, and it is one of the news releases in conjunction with the Station Fire:

One of the most dramatic sights on a wildfire is the vision of an air tanker releasing its red payload of retardant near the fire. Behind this picturesque vision is a long history of science in the development of a valuable tool for firefighters - the use of fire retardant. Today retardant is used when appropriate to help suppress wildland fires.

Aerial drops of retardant have come a long way since the first recorded water drop in 1930, when a Ford Tri-Motor airplane used a wooden beer keg filled with water. Now air tankers can drop 500 to 2000 gallons of retardant at a time to help suppress fires. Helitankers, which are helicopters with built-in tanks, can drop up to 2000 gallons; retrofitted DC-10s have an 11,000 gallon capacity, and Boeing 747s 20,000 gallons.

Fire retardant is just one of many tools in the arsenal of firefighters. Like any other tool, it must be used under the right conditions and for the right job in order to be effective. Firefighters consider many factors in deciding which tools to use at a particular location and time to suppress a fire. Characteristics of the terrain, weather variables such as temperature, humidity, wind direction and force; the types of vegetation in the fire area; proximity to homes and other buildings; and the first priority of safety of the public and firefighters are all factors in choosing the right tools for the particular circumstances.

Retardant drops are most often used in extreme fire conditions. The retardant is usually dropped just ahead of the advancing edge of the fire and the flanks of the fire. This cools and so slows the fire, helping firefighters on the ground. It reduces the rate of spread and the intensity of fires, and slows larger, more damaging, and therefore can reduce the cost of fires. Often, using retardant to fight fires is the most effective and efficient method of assisting firefighters in protecting people, resources, private property and facilities. The remoteness of many wildland fires can delay the arrival of firefighting ground forces. Retardant drops can rapidly reduce the intensity and spread of the fire until firefighters can safely take action. Topography in the fire area and windy conditions are some of the factors limiting the effectiveness, and therefore the use, of retardant.  . . .

Go here to read the complete article

Station fire from space

I have seen individual images of the Station fire from satellites, but not a compilation of images. It is short. Check it out.

More fire footage

And more fire footage uploaded to youtube on September 1.

Fire footage

While I am wondering around in the land of no internet access, I am leaving you with some video footage of the recent fires in Southern California.

Tanker 21 drop near Mt. Wilson

Awesome video of an AeroUnion Orion P-3, tanker 21, making a drop near Mt. Wilson, uploaded on September 6.

Updated on August 3, 2015: The US Forest Service terminated its contract with Aero-Union for their Lockheed P-3's, going out of business a month later. (see my articles of July 30, 2011, August 17, 2011, and January 18, 2012). 

Mt. Wilson Observatory and Airtankers

Here is another image taken by the Mt. Wilson Observatory webcam sent to me while I was sleeping last night. You can see the Station Fire burning in the background.

Speaking of Mt. Wilson, the website that I have referred you to for updates on how the station fire is affecting Mt. Wilson is written by staff of the Observatory, including the director. They write of the aerial assault near Mt. Wilson. The retardant lines laid by these airtankers. In addition to benefiting Mt. Wilson, these retardant drops were laid in hopes of keeping the fire out of Big Santa Anita Canyon, Sierra Madre, and Monrovia. I encourage you to visit their fire webpage for their impressions of seeing this aerial assault up close and personal as well as ground operations. They also have a picture page with some awesome photos of airtankers up close and personal. I was interested in the photo of one of Minden's SP-2H tankers, as I have never seen a photo of one of their tankers.

In closing, I'd like to offer these observations that an aviator friend, who has flown fires in southern california offered very early this morning (about 5AM, my time):

The fire continues burning to the East. We're at 154,655 acres and a good hold is on the Western flanks. The Eastern portion is being handled as best they can, but there is minimal access to the area. That means tankers, helo's and a VERY long hike for the handcrews.

September 8, 2014: dead links removed

footage from cockpit of CL 415 and AirCrane

Bill Gabbert posted a link to some incredible footage shot by a camera inside the cockpit of a CL 415 and an Air Crane. Go here to check it out.

The Mt. Wilson webcam was back in service yesterday. Someone sent me this image last night and I am posting it here. Updates on the fire as affects Mt. Wilson may be found here.

On pets and wildland fire (and other disaster) evacuations

I was checking out a media outlet in Sacramento CA this morning checking on a small wildland fire that burned over night in the Cleveland National Forest. After checking out the fire story, I saw the story of badly burned cat that got separated from her owner after their house burned to the ground during the 49 fire that burned in Auburn CA over the weekend. Someone in the sheriff’s office found the cat and took her to a vet who has been treating the cat for severe burns. So, the Sacramento media has been doing their part in trying to reunite the cat and her owner.

I have always had animals and this story got me thinking about my own cat, Rocky. It got me thinking about what I can do to keep Rocky safe and to ensure that if some disaster happened and we were not able to evacuate to a shelter with Rocky. I would someone to be able to find us. You never know what might happen that will lead to an evacuation. If he were injured, we would want to know about it, to be able to comfort him. What can I do to protect Rocky and to give us a chance of being reunited if we had to leave Rocky somewhere or if he went into hiding as the flames approached?

Here I write about wildland fires, which often require evacuations. I read the story about the burned cat and saw the pictures and read the vets appeal to reunite the cat with her owner. I don’t want that to happen to Rocky. As I get to know those of you who are air tanker pilots, helo pilots, ground crew, engine crew, smokejumpers, etc., I know that you care about protecting people, property and animals. I know that you care about the innocent victims of fire who are animals.

So, I offer this advice from a member of the wildland firefighting community to honor all the pets as well as our feline friend in a veterinary hospital near Auburn CA.

Sometimes an animal's survival instincts are better than a humans. While I agree 100% that the family pet should be the first thing carried out with the family, yes, it's not always possible. Advanced notice gives one time to round up the animals and cage them...they're easier to catch. In the imminent danger of an approaching fire, animals sense the danger and panic (we as humans) unconsciously put out. One of the big reasons why pets go hide in the heat of the moment. Even if there's a family argument, a pet will seek refuge away from the battle. It's part of their nature.

What can we do to insure our pets are safe during a time of crisis?

• Whether you've been told to evacuate or not...if there's a chance you might be asked....crate your pet during the calm before the storm.

• ID chips are cheap insurance for keeping everyone together after the crisis.

• With a bit of training, most animals will respond to a specific command to go to their crate. Never make "time out" in an animal carrier a form of punishment. Keep a favorite blanket and toy inside the carrier, as this makes the crate more of a reward for good behavior than a punishment for bad. Remember, neither humans nor animals like that long walk to the woodshed!

• Make sure the carrier is tagged with the pets name, vet info., and owners contact information. Some evacuation centers don't allow pets to stay with their owners. At least if you become separated, there will be a chain of information to start the reuniting process.

Not much involved here, just a bit of common sense.

On the advice above, I'm not sure that I can train Rocky to go into a crate, but that is the nature of cats.

I am getting a chip implanted in Rocky. It isn’t expensive. A little "insurance." In Rocky’s case, the chip is injected under his skin between his shoulder blades. The chip has a unique code. We register our contact information and alternate contact info in a national database. The chip can be read with a scanner device. At least we have done the best that we can do, and won’t be saying that we shoulda made sure Rocky had a chip.

AirCrane at Station Fire

The helitanker in the video is an Erickson Air Crane, under contract (with the US Forest Service?). To the best of my knowledge it is not a LA County helitanker. It is probably under contract. I believe that Erickson has a contract with LA County.

One of the lighter moments of the hours that I spent watching live footage of the Station Fire came with watching the AirCranes working the fire. One reason is because I got to know one of Erickson Air Crane's senior pilots, Kenny Chapman through my writings. I know that Kenny was based in California a couple of months ago, I don't know if he still is. And if he is, I don't know if he is or was working the Station Fire. But I thought of him every time I saw an AirCrane make a drop.

The levity came early Tuesday evening after I watched about ten minutes of footage of the Martin Mars before and during her drop on Mt. Wilson. After the drop, they switched to shots of AirCranes (Erickson and others) using their snorkle tubes to fill their tankers. Some shots were of the helitanker filling their tanks from a pond. Others showed them filling from tanks, sometimes known as dip tanks. You know the sound you can make when you are drinking a bottle of soda from a bottle , when the bottle is almost empty? You want to get every last drop of soda. Well the guys in the news helo were making that noise as the helitanker was filling its tanks from the dip tank. I cracked up, made me laugh out loud.

I made a post a couple of months ago where I embedded a video of an AirCrane filling its tank from a dip tank, it may be found here.

Tankers don't always carry full loads

I want to briefly mention something that I will spend more time writing about later after I have had a chance to do some research as well as talking to my aviator friends. That is, more often than not, tankers and helos will not carry a full load of retardant or water in their tanks due to aeronautical concerns. So, when the reports are saying that the Martin Mars can carry 7,200 gallons of water/gel mixture or that the Evergreen 747 supertanker can carry 20,500 gallons of retardant, they will carry these loads under "ideal" circumstances. The word "ideal" may be a misnomer, but it will have to suffice for now.

So, the Martin Mars was, as Bill Gabbert pointed out the other day, was carrying a smaller load of water (about 4,600 to 5,500 gallons). Chances are the Evergreen 747 supertanker was carrying a smaller load of retardant. Those of you who are aviators, or firefighters more familiar with aeronautics than I will know that one of the main reasons that tankers (and I assume helos) carry a lower load is because of something called density altitude. I will be writing some articles later about density altitude. I had begun discussions with some of my fire aviator friends several weeks ago about points such as density altitude and retardant coverage levels. I am beginning to revisit these issues.

One final point, while I am on the subject. When the Fox newscasters were covering the other day about the Evergreen 747 supertanker's retardant drops, one of them said that the supertanker could lay down a retardant line 3 miles long. This was also under "ideal" conditions and when the load is dropped in one run. I will add here that they were reading from specifications and other data on the supertanker, as they should. Having read specs myself, what I have to remember is to read words like "maximum" or the data sheet might say something like "the supertanker can drop a retardant line up to three miles long." Point being that I have to remember to think about these words as I listen to newscasts or read articles online.

Returning back to retardant line laid by the Evergreen 747 supertanker, the supertanker split the load into two runs, as all tankers are able to do. Likewise, at full capacity and under ideal conditions, the Martin Mars can cover 4 acres with its water/gel mix. If I understand things correctly, each water/gel load dropped by the Martin Mars covered less than 4 acres. Again, in later articles, I will try to write more about this issue.

I will also be writing about other aerodynamic issues relating to retardant and water drops. In some sense this planned series of articles will be a continuation of the short series of articles I wrote several weeks ago on wing stalls as relates to retardant drops. I won't link to this here, but if you look at the labels on the lower left side of this page, you will see a label that says "aerodynamics." If you click on that label you will get all my posts on aerodynamics to date, including posts on wing stalls.

Look for this series down the road a bit.

More on Martin Mars

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today has recently made this post of two videos of the Hawaii Mars in action. I am embedding one video here, with thanks to Bill for sharing this on his site. According to Bill, this video is shot from cameras on the lead helicopter and from cameras on board the aircraft. I like this video for its unique perspective as I am especially intrigued by footage taken from inside the cockpit of a tanker or a helo. Bill also provides some information about the history of the Martin Mars, those of you with an interest in aviation history will want to check this out. You will also want to check out Bill's post to see the second video that I did not embed here, a longer video (almost six minutes) of Monday's drop on Mt. Wilson where they talk a little about the aircraft itself and its capabilities.

For those of you who keep track of these things, this post updates and replaces one that I made late last night and have since deleted.

September 8, 2014: dead links removed.

So. CA wildfires: photography

I offer two links for you to two very different photography collections of the Station Fire that has burned over 140,000 acres outside of Los Angeles California. The first collection is posted on the website of the Boston Globe in an easy to view format where you can scroll down the page to view the photos. These photos and other photo collections like this on other media outlets on the web reminds me that there are a large number of firefighters working to contain the fire. It helps me to put a face on those of you are or were fighting the fires. Other images remind me that fire destroys. And still other images show that the fire is being fought on the ground with the support of aviation resources in the air. You may go here to view these photos.

September 8, 2014: Dead links removed.

dc-10 working So. CA fires

I believe that this is the DC-10 tanker known as tanker 911. This video was uploaded to youtube on August 31. I believe that T-911 is working the Station Fire.

And here is a link to another you tube video uploaded on August 31. Here you will see T-911 making two consecutive drops on the Station Fire. Embedding is disabled on this video

Mt. Wilson Observatory Redux

This is the last webcam picture taken from the Mt.Wilson observatory webcam website at 1:49 PM PDT on Sept. 1. The note on the webcam says:

Note: The Mount Wilson webserver has gone down, most likely due to a backfire infiltration of a pull box containing telephone lines that bring us our T1 internet service. The will be no more updates from the Towercam, the last one being upoaded at 13:49:06. ... Solar observer comment posted on September 1, 2009 at 10:32 P.D.T.: Current weather conditions: smokey

For news on the status of the fires on Mt. Wilson, go here.

Martin Mars makes drop on Mt. Wilson

direct link to video

After eating dinner I decided to come in and watch some more live video streams out of southern California. I lucked out and saw the Martin "Hawaii" Mars circling over Mt. Wilson. What a magnificent airplane, literally two of a kind. After about five to ten minutes of watching the video, with some nice closeups of the Martin Mars, it came in for its dropping, dropping water (with foam) near the transmission towers.

Remember the capacity of the Martin Mars is 7,200 gallons and it has a 600 gallon foam tank. For more information on the Martin Mars, go here.

In the meantime I am watching streams of helitankers working the fires, loading and making drops.

update:8:10PM EDT
I would like to thank Huufs for pointing me to myfoxla video that I just embedded as well as the video from abc on youtube. Thank-you Huufs

updated on Sept 6, 2013
It seems that the myfoxla video may no longer be available, so I am, hopefully, including a video from youtube of the Martin Mars making a drop on Mt. Wilson

Early thoughts on the wildfires in So. CA

I have spent several hours over the last three days watching live video streams from CBS2/KCAL9 or MyFoxLA of the Station fire burning in and near the Angeles National Forest outside Los Angeles. I want to say from the outset that there is absolutely no way that my watching the live video streams (or you tube videos or any other video of wildfire fighting) is equal to the experiences of fighting these fires either on the ground or from the air. It does not and can not replace being there. But from my vantage point and given my age, this is the closest that I am going to come. I am profoundly moved by what I have watched. This is real stuff folks. This is not the type of video where I can sit on my couch eating popcorn watching a movie on cable or on DVD.

On Sunday, I started out by watching retardant drops by tankers and water drops by helos. Any excitement I felt by watching the aerial attack was replaced by horror as I saw the live feed of the news helo showing live footage of the accident site where two fine firefighters died. I will never forget those images and the words of the helo reporter. I hope I never do forgot. Two people died the other night. A few months ago I was watching live footage of a house being engulfed in flames. This was someone's house. I watched backburning operations this afternoon. And interspersed with these shots are shots of the fire itself, impressive flame heights of I don't know how high. And as I have watched this footage over the last three days, I understand that much of the fire is in extremely inaccessible terrain.

But I have also seen with my own eyes that this inaccessible terrain is sometimes inaccessible to the tankers that can help because the smoke makes it too dangerous to fly. For example on Sunday afternoon, I saw a P-3 make a drop on on side of Mt. Wilson (more on that in a later post) but there was smoke on the other side of the Mountain. One of tanker pilot friends told me yesterday as I was watching yet another video stream of the wildfires that a tanker pilot could see to approach the drop, would barely be able to see while making the drop, and has zero visibility leaving the drop because of the smoke. These conditions, he pointed out, made it unsafe for the tankers to fly.

I am only now beginning to absorb what I have seen, and I am not sure that my words can adequately convey the very profound impact that watching these live video streams has meant to me. I will share more reflections in a day or so.

On aerial firefighting strategy

Just before I originally wrote this article I was on the CBS2/KCAL9 website to get an update on what is happening on the wildfires burning in southern California. Always on the lookout for how aerial resources are being used, I watched an informative video (no longer available) where an LA County Fire Captain (Mark Wayland (sp?) is being interviewed. A portion of the interview, the first part, is focused on the use of aerial resources. In particular, the reporter asks why the two CL 415 super scoopers that arrived in southern California have not yet been used. As I understand it, the answer in brief, is that the super scoopers are more appropriate for initial attack (new fires) and are not appropriate for wildfires such as the station fire and other wildfires currently burning because the water they drop can conflict with the retardant lines. Listen to the video for the Fire Captain's responses.

Edited on September 8, 2014 to remove dead links/

Evergreen 747 supertanker drop

Bill Gabbert has some pictures of the Evergreen 747 supertanker's earlier drops this fire season.

There was  a 12 minute video from myfoxla that is no longer available. As you will see on the video, the Evergreen 747 is known as tanker 979 (the number on the tail). The first drop in this run is about 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the video. Tanker 979 split this load into two drops of 10,000 gallons each that Fox captured in this video. Think about it, she dropped 20,000 gallons of retardant without having to return to her base at McClellan for reloading. For those of you who are interested, the first of these drops occurs at about 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the video

Updated on September 8, 2014: The wonderful 12 minute video that I embedded here when I first wrote this article is no longer available. At least I couldn't find it. 

Updated on August 3, 2015: According to Bill Gabbert's May 2nd (2014) article on Fire Aviation it seems that Evergreen has declared bankruptcy.
 

super scoopers in So. CA

At the time I originally wrote this article, there was a video (no longer available from CBS2/KCAL on the arrival of two CL-415 "super scoopers" from Canada to assist in working the fires in southern CA. The reporter mentions that a "super scooper" based at Lake Elsinore, that is the Martin "Hawaii" Mars is also available to assist in these efforts.

I have been checking various live video streams, shot from news helicopters, of the wildfires. Some awesome flames. The stream that I am watching know from CBS2/KCAL9 is showing a fire buring near residential neighborhood, just saw a helitanker fly by.

Edited on September 8, 2014 to remove dead links.

Mt. Wilson Observatory

Wildfires continue to burn near the historic Mt. Wilson, observatory. Wildfires were expected to overrun the observatory and the nearby communications towers last night. The LA Times reports that brush clearance by ground crews last night along with retardant drops may have helped, at least in the short term. However, the danger to Mt. Wilson is fair from over.

The observatory dates back to 1904 and is of historical significance, it is where Edwin Hubble worked, to learn a little about the observatory, go here. From what I understand, Observatory personnel were evacuated yesterday.

Death of two LA County Firefighters

It is with deep sadness that I write of the death of two LA County Firefighters who died an vehicle crash while working the Station fire in the Mt. Gleason area near Acton CA.

On September 8, 2014 I deleted links that are no longer available. But I did find this link to a Sept 1, 2009 story written by Bill Gabbert.

I offer my heartfelt condolences to the families, friends, and colleagues of these two fine men.

Station Fire: 6 PM EDT

Of course, this assumes that feed that I am still watching is of the Station Fire. Anyway, I am getting ready to sign off but before I do I want to give you an approximate count of the tankers and helos that I have seen since my earlier (5;15 PM) post.

1. three water/foam drops by an Air Crane (helitanker).
2. three water/foam drops by a smaller fixed tank helicopter.
3. at least two drops by what appears to be an Aero Union P-3. The qualification here is because I lost the stream for a couple of minutes while a P-3 may have been making a retardant drop.

Station Fire 5:15 PM EDT

I am watching live video feed from the CBS affliate in LA CBS2/KCAL9. I have been watching this stream for about 45 minutes and have seen a couple of helos and a couple of CAL Fire Tankers working the fire. And some pretty impressive flames. The image is from the webcam on the Wilson Observatory.

A friend who used to fly tankers in southern California told me in an e-mail this afternoon:

This ones going to burn like hell for a few more days. I've had the opportunity to fly this area in years past. You can't put groundpounders in most of those areas due to the terrain. Most canyons are at 45 degrees or steeper. This fire will be an airshow for the most part. Current wind direction is only allowing aircraft to be used on the North and Northwestern side of the fire. Heavy smoke is obscuring the other flanks of the fire. Never fly where you can't see. This includes the helo's as well.

The streaming from this site can be sporadic. So, if you go to the above link and don't get anything, try back later. That is what I did, and I finally got a stream. Remember the news helo has to refuel, change crews, and the like.

Station Fire

I understand from a knowledgeable friend that one the DC-10 tankers was deployed to the Station Fire yesterday, currently burning the Angeles National Forest outside LA. I spent awhile watching videos from a local news outlet. And my friend has told me that he has seen footage of the DC-10 tanker working the fire.

When I am able to find some video footage of the DC-10 tanker working one of these fires, I will post the link here.

September 8, 2014: invalid links have been deleted

DC-10 making drops on Gloria Fire

One of the DC-10 tankers made three retardant drops this past Friday and one drop on Thursday afternoon working the Gloria Fire near Soledad CA.

Sept 8, 2014: link to local video of DC-10 Tanker drop was deleted because the link is no longer valid.

Air drop on La Brea fire

And here is some very awesome footage of an AeroUnion P-3 (tanker 27?) making a drop on the La Brea Fire.

Updated on August 3, 2015: The US Forest Service terminated its contract with Aero-Union for their Lockheed P-3's, going out of business a month later. (see my articles of July 30, 2011, August 17, 2011, and January 18, 2012). 

La Brea Fire

You may recall that I wrote about the La Brea fire that was burning in Southern California a couple of weeks ago. This is an eight minute video of the fire with some footage of tankers and helicopters flying to or from the fire. The latest update on this from from inciweb, the national incident reporting system may be found here.

More fires burning in Southern California

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today News is currently reporting on the wildfires burning in Southern California. For those of you checking here after the fact, go back on his website to about August 25, and start from there.

While there, I noted that Bill had embeded the above video from motherlode.com on a fire burning in Yosemite. This fire, Big Meadows, is an escaped presribed burn. Bill reports on this in more detail here. You may also go to this post by Capt. Mike on the firefighter blog for information on the Big Meadows fire in Yosemite.

Thanks Bill and Capt. Mike.

SEAT crash in Greece

It is with great sorrow that I write to pay my respects to the family, friends, colleagues, and the people of Greece as they mourn the death of Colonel Stergios Kotoulas. Col. Kotoulas, who had thousands of hours of flight experience, died on Aug. 27 when the SEAT he was flying crashed Ionian Sea close to the Greek island of Kefalonia while he was flying fires in Greece. I believe that he was flying a Dromader M-18.

For more information may be found here.

Capt. Mike wrote about the fires in Greece on his firefighter blog here.

RIP Col. Kotoulas. May you and your plane always fly in favorable winds.

A visit from a smokejumper

I get e-mail alerts when someone comments on my blog. The other day, I was delighted to hear from Bjorn, a smokejumper who jumped for the BLM in Alaska this year after four years a jumper for the Forest Service. Bjorn commented on a post I made here on July 20, part 2 of 2 on about smokejumping. Note his comment. He knew Scott Wickland of the four minute video that I posted. Scott, or Wicky gave a four minute video tour of smokejumping out of the Northern Cascades Smokejumping Base in Winthrop WA.

Bjorn has a blog that may be found here. He started the blog this year, and he is able to do something that I can not. He writes about his experience as a smokejumper this season. Please check it out. He writes about the three-week training he went through and has some awesome photos.

SEAT crash: 6 PM update

The Sierra Interagency Dispatch Center has released the name of the pilot. The BLM identifed the pilot as Dave Jamsa of Missoula Montana. He leaves a wife and four chidren. Here is the article that I wrote about earlier where you can go for more information.

Dave, rest in peace and may you experience favorable winds. My tears, thoughts, and prayers are with Dave's wife and children, the rest of his family, Minuteman Aviation, his friend and colleagues.

SEAT crash (Hoyt Fire): update

I ran across a newspaper article reporting the name of the pilot that was killed in yesterday's SEAT. However, out of respect for the pilot's family, I am going to hold off on linking to this article.

However, I also run across this press release from the BLM about the SEAT crash.

Evergreen 747 demo drop in Spain

I want to thank Carlos, who was flying an AT-802 on the same fire in Spain where the Evergreen 747 did a demo drop last month. He did not see the drop, but reports that a forestry technician told him that the drop was no good. Going on to say that it was a tough day with very strong winds. To read his comment and my response, see the comments on this post.

Updated on August 3, 2015: According to Bill Gabbert's May 2nd (2014) article on Fire Aviation it seems that Evergreen has declared bankruptcy.

SEAT crash on Hoyt Fire in NV

It saddens me to write of the crash of an Air Tractor AT-802A in the mountains in Churchill County Nevada while fighting the Hoyt Fire. The pilot was airlifted to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. See this article for more information.

The aircraft was owned by Minuteman aviation

I offer my condolences to the family, friends, colleagues, and those at Minuteman Aviation for your loss.

May you fly in favorable winds and be at peace.

Forest History Society Archives and Mann Gulch

I was in the land of no internet access on August 5, the 60th anniversary of the Mann Gulch Fire where 13 firefighters died, 12 of whom were smokejumpers. Some of you may recall that my introduction to wildland fire books was Norman Maclean’s “Young Men and Fire”, where he tells the story of the Mann Gulch fire, and his own investigations over the course of 40 years.

As fate would have it, Carl A. made a comment on my entry on smokejumper history dated August 5. In his comment, that some of you may have read, he said:

Great post! You should also check out some of the Smokejumping history resources at the Forest History Society. A recent post on their blog about Mann Gulch links to some of their online sources on the: August 5, 1949: Mann Gulch Tragedy .

I was intrigued by the Forest History Society, so I followed Carl’s lead and have spent a little time checking out some of the resources available. I have to say that the forty-five minutes or so that I spent on this website does not do it justice.

Martin Mars working the La Brea Fire in CA

The Martin Mars is (or was over the weekend) working the La Brea Fire that is burning in California. It is based at Lake Cachuma. For more information go here and here.

La Brea fire

If you want to see some awesome photos of the La Brea fire that is still burning in California, including some shots of tankers working the fire, check out Wildfire Today News on August 13 to August 15. Bill has posted some good pictures, including some screen shots from live video feed.

Martin Mars training runs in So CA

I was looking around to see if there were any recent youtube videos of the Martin Mars. I found this video, thanks to Bill Gabbert of Wildland Today News who made apost last weekof this video of the Martin Mars doing training runs and re-currency runs in Southern California. According to Bill some of this video was shot in infrared. It is an amazing video.

great photo of an AirCrane

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today News posted this great photo of an AirCrane. Check it out!

Evergreen 747 tanker: free demo drops

I saw a report on the Associated Airtanker Pilots message board last month (from a Spanish newspaper article translated into English) that Evergreen's 747 supertanker, currently under a call when needed contract (CWN) in California traveled to Spain last month to make a demonstration drop on Poyatos fire that was burning in a mountainous area of Spain. The 747 super tanker then traveled to Alaska where she made a second free demonstration drop on the Railbelt Fire.

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reported on the 747 supertanker's drops on the Railbelt fire here.

Updated on August 3, 2015: According to Bill Gabbert's May 2nd (2014) article on Fire Aviation it seems that Evergreen has declared bankruptcy. Assoicated Airtanker Pilots is now called Associated Aerial Firefighters, the message board that I had linked to in this article is no longer available.

I'm back

I returned from the land of no easy internet access a couple of days ago. I have a couple of more posts to make on the topic of what wildland fire crews do, both are about books that I have read or am reading. I have a backlog of aerial wildland fire news to catch up on.

I'll be writing a post about Stephen J. Pyne's book, Fire on the Rim: A Firefighter's Season at the Grand Canyon in a couple of hours. I wrote it out in long hand. I don't know about I sometimes still find it comforting to write in long hand. So, I'll be posting again later today

wildland fire crews: fire shelters

From the youtube summary for this video:

Fire shelter deployment from October 22, 2007 by Orange County Fire Authority engine crews. Photos by Karen Tapia Andersen of the Los Angeles Times. A presentation quality video (30 mb) can be downloaded from the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned website at this location (but only if you have quicktime pro).

I’ll tell you how the video ends, all fire firefighters in this fire shelter deployment incident survived. The video may be difficult to watch, but it is important. The fire spotted downslop from the twelve firefighters, and took a run up the hill. The fire fighters could not escape to safety (for example to a “black” or already burned area), so as a last resort, they deployed (crawled under) their shelters.

What are fire shelters? Fire shelters, designed to protect the occupant from being burned by flames, are just large enough for a person to crawl under. The firefighter lies face down on the ground, holding the shelter close to the ground, to protect their lungs from the heat of the flames and the smoke.

fire shelter: An aluminized tent offering protection by means of reflecting radiant heat and providing a volume of breathable air in a fire entrapment situation. Fire shelters should only be used in life threatening situations, as a last resort.

fire shelter deployment: The removing of a fire shelter from its case and using it as protection against fire.

[from National Wildfire Coordinating Group Incident Operations Standards Working Team (PMS 205), 2007. Glossary of Wildland Fire Terminology.

Here are some resources on fire shelters:

History of the Development of the Fire Shelter

US Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management, fire shelter information. This is a brief page with a couple of photos.

National Interagency Fire Center on fire shelters. There is a lot of information on this site, including, but not limited to the two documents below.

National Interagency Fire Center on fire shelters (as of 12/12/12)

The New Generation Fire Shelter. This is the publication that describes the new generation fire shelter. As I understand all wildland fire crews will be using the new generation fire shelter on or before January 1, 2010 and will be familiar with this document.

Tech Tip: What’s New in the New Generation Fire Shelter

I’d like to thank Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today News for his help in reviewing this article and being a second pair of eyes. Thanks Bill!

wildland fire crews: hotshots

Edited on October 24, 2017

I originally posted a short documentary from the Lone Peak hotshot crew on what it takes to be a member of a hotshot crew. Unfortunately when I was looking at this blog entry on October 24, 2017, I saw that the video that I originally posted is no longer available. Sorry about that, happens sometimes.

I plan to finish up this series on wildland fire crews on Monday with a post on fire shelters. If there are any loose ends to tie up in regards to this series of articles, I will do so after Aug. 10.

Wildland fire crews: on the job

Here is a video showing images of wildland fire crews on the job. Note the air attack (helicopters and air tankers) in support of the wildland fire crews.

wildland fire crews: dozers

From the NWCG Glossary of Wildland Fire Terms:

Fireline: The part of a containment or control line that is scraped or dug to mineral soil.

As you may know by now, wildland firefighting crews digfirelines, also known as hand lines by hand. They use tools such as the pulaski, mcleod and shovels. Dozers (large tractors) also dig fireline, known as dozer lines, with the blade on the front. I understand that the big dozers, such as the one in the video may come equipped with climate control and the operator wears a respirator.

The video shows LA County dozer teams working the Ranch and Santiago Fires during the Oct. 2007 fires. Enjoy!