DC-7 aircraft jacks (3 of 3)

Larry Kraus sent me some photos of T-62 over the Memorial Day weekend of T-62 undergoing maintenance in preparation for the summer fire season. Of interest are the very large (500-ton?) jacks used under the main landing gear and under each wings. Needless to say, these jacks are not carried on T-62!

DC-7: aircraft jack (2 0f 3) and self sufficiency

I continue where I left off in my preceding post where Larry Kraus was explaining to me about the tailwheel/nosewheel stand used by Butler's DC-7 airtankers. Larry describes this unique stand that he carries on his tanker (T-62):

If we didn't have this stand, we'd have to find a full sized jack to change the nose tire. It's actually pretty ingenious. It can be broken down into pieces and it weighs less than 70 lbs. I know this because we had to send one to Rapid City once by UPS Next Day Air when it was accidentally removed from T62 during maintenance and not returned and we had to change the nose tire.

For changing the main tires, a 30-ton hydraulic jack is used that is carried aboard T-62. According to Larry, the 30-ton hydraulic jack

fits under the center of the bottom of the main landing gear strut where there is a jacking point. Using the 30 ton jack we can change tires and brakes. We carry spare tires and spare brakes.

The spare tires (a nose tire and a main tire) as well as the spare inboard and outboard brakes act as both ballast and spares.We just have to carry the used tire and brake in the airplane as ballast until we can replace them with new ones. Getting the tire back in the airplane can be a challange without a fork lift. Getting the new one out of the airplane isn't easy either,but gravity works better going down than going up.

I don't have a photo of the 30-ton jack that is carried on T-62, but Larry found this 30-ton hydraulic jack on an internet search, which he says is similar to the one he carries on T-62:

He also sent this link, to ColumbusJack / Regent, a company that sells various aircraft axle jacks and related equipment.

In the photo of the jack adaptor that he uses as a tail stand and for the nose wheel jack, Larry has added a drawing in blue, showing where the 30-ton hydraulic jack fits in the picture.

Finally, Larry speaks of his need to be self sufficient:

Small general aviation airplanes wouldn't carry a jack around as they have no need to be self sufficient away from their home base. We pretty much have to carry any and all spare parts and tools with us. Most fixed base operators have no idea of our needs. Whenever we go to someplace that isn't used to our airplane and try to order oil they'll ask "How many quarts do you need?".....We work in drums....

You can figure our oil consumption as varying between about 2 and 5 gallons per hour per engine in a fire fighting operation. Multiply that by 8 hours for a full day and you'll see that, even at 2 gallons per engine per hour,we'd need 64 gallons of oil. We also carry a portable oil pumping system (with a small gas engine driven pump) that attaches to the top of an oil drum with appropriate fittings and has a 50 ft hose with a shut off nozzle.Again, getting the drum of oil into the airplane (it weighs about 350 lbs) is a challenge. On the Oregon contract, we can get by without carrying extra oil in the airplane because we only fly from bases that are set up for our operation.The engines have 46 gallon oil tanks.
I want to point out that I do not know what the other airtankers under national or state contracts carry with them.

DC-7 tanker: aircraft jacks (1 of 3)

Last December, I wrote a series of articles up close and personal with a DC-7 air tanker, thanks to the help of the pilot of T-62, Larry Kraus. A couple of months ago, Larry Kraus sent me a couple of pictures of (Butler's) T-66 as it was sitting on a ramp outside of Butler's maintenance hanger in Redmond with it's retardant tanks removed. According to Larry, the retardant tank was on a dolly in the maintenance hanger getting some repair work. These two photos are shown above. I looked at these photos and asked Larry what was hanging from T-66's tail.

This is Larry's reply:

It's a home made combination tail stand and nosewheel jack adapter.Sometimes when it snows heavily around here,enough weight in wet snow will accumulate on the horizontal stabilizers and elevators to cause the tail to squat down enough under the weight to lift the nosewheel off the ground. This is undesirable, especially if the wind is blowing.

So, with the tailstand in place, the tail can't settle enough (before the tailstand touches the ground) to lift the nosewheel clear.If you look closely at the pictures,you'll see holes in the vertical shaft of the tailstand and a metal pin inserted near the top.The shaft is actually two concentric shafts (a smaller diameter one inside the outer shaft) that can be adjusted to lengthen the shaft and the pinned to the new length by aligning the holes in the shafts.

Larry goes on to explain how this device is attached to the DC-7:

The "Y" shaped fixture that connects the tailstand to the hole in the tailskid (with another pin) is removable. The actual top of the shaft is concave to mate with a jacking adapter that's permanetly mounted on the airplane just aft of (behind) the nosewheel well on the belly of the airplane. 

In the photo below, Larry has put in a blue arrow showing the location of the nosewheel jackpad underneath the boarding ladder in the picture.

And Larry sent me a photo of T-66 as showing the repaired retardant tank just before it was put back in T-66. The retardant tank is below T-66 on the dolly.

Next up: more jacks used on the DC-7 tankers, changing tires, and self sufficiency

An airplane ride in the winds

On a windy day late last February, I went on what some in general aviation call a scenic ride. It was my first scenic ride. I wrote this a few days after the flight.

In the world of Cessna trainers (172P) the day of my first scenic ride dawned with strong winds. The folk at the general aviation airport canceled student pilot's flights. As I was going on a scenic ride, my ride was not canceled. I did have the option to cancel without penalties. I did not. One of the phenomenon that I wanted to experience was strong winds so I went up. Winds on the ground were about 15 to 20 knots (from 290 degrees) and winds aloft were about 30 knots. We started out flying into the winds towards the Delaware Water Gap in the Appalachian Ridge.

It was a bumpy ride, especially after we arrived at the Ridge and just before Mike turned the plane around. The winds at the Ridge were the strongest of the trip. I thought about the strength of the winds as the Cessna was knocked about a bit. I was glad for Mike's skilled piloting and knew that the winds we were experiencing were within the safety margins for the Cessna. I was grateful for the opportunity to experience, in small measures, some strong winds and turbulence. At this point, the ridge (about 1,200 feet give or take) was about 1,500 feet below us. We were flying at 2,800 ft and broken clouds were about 500 feet above us. There was a tower of some sort on the PA side of the ridge.

At the same time, I knew that Mike was not pushing the envelope in taking me up. And I had confidence in his abilities as a pilot. I knew that I would be safe. I was mostly afraid that I might get air sick and I did not! I knew that the winds that we were experiencing were nothing like the winds and mountain turbulence that tanker pilots experience. I am not going to try to think that what I experienced comes close.

So what can I say? I can say that I have respect for the power of winds and turbulence. As a passenger, I trusted Mike's abilities. I trusted the Cessna trainer. I found myself reflecting that the tanker business is not easy.

Flying is all about the wings.

On other matters, I spent a lot of the flight looking out the window and not watching what Mike was doing with the yoke and the rudder pedals. And when I go up again, I can watch what he is doing instead of the scenes from the windows.

I observed other maneuvers. Early in the flight, after we got to straight and level flight and Mike trimmed the plane (I did watch this), he took his hands off the yoke and I saw that the Cessna did reach stable straight and level flight on her own (positive dynamic stability, I think).

Flying is all about the wings.

I felt slight creepy when Mike demonstrated a power off stall at a fairly low angle of attack. I heard the stall warning. Mike was explaining what he was doing as he was flying. In fact he explained everything he did. Anyway, the creepiness passed as I saw and made a mental note that Mike knew what he was doing. A short time later, he put the nose down a little and the stall warning ceased. He powered up, put the flaps up (I think that he put the flaps down to 10). And we flew on.

Flying is all about the wings.

When we turned around at the Ridge, I asked Mike if we were turning at a 20 percent bank angle. We were. I was looking at the wings out the window as we turned. Later on he demonstrated patterns at 1,000 ft. AGL. I looked out the window and noted that he was crabbing into the wind. I noted the steeper bank angle as I was looking at the wings.

Flying is all about the wings.

As we approached the airport and entered into the pattern for landing, we again crabbed into the wind at the appropriate points. As we were on final, I asked Mike how far out we were. He said about one quarter of a mile. I said so we can glide in to landing in case the engine fails? He said, that is right.

Flying is all about the wings.

Mike did a nice job piloting the airplane. I learned a lot during this flight by watching him fly the plane and listening as he talked about what he was doing. Just as important I thoroughly enjoyed my first scenic ride.

Air Tractors battle grasshoppers

On earlier occasions, I have written on here and here about the important role that Air Tractors play in aerial firefighting, both in their role as SEATs and in post fire remediation (e.g. applying hydromulch. The various models of Air Tractors also play an important role in crop dusting and/or insect control.

When I got my paper copy of the New York Times this morning and turned to the national news, I saw a picture of an Air Tractor being used in grasshopper control. I was reminded that plagues of grasshoppers and locust are not just something that I read about when I was studying American history and reading the devastation caused by very large swarms of grasshoppers and locusts during the dust bowl of the 1930s and earlier. This is not about Pa Ingalls always finding a way to feed his family when the grasshoppers ate his crops. For farmers in many sections of this country, farmers are worried about the possibility of grasshoppers damaging their entire crop. One of the important tools in our arsenal are the Air Tractors and other agricultural planes along with their pilots. With that in mind, I thought that some of you might enjoy this article and the accompanying photo slideshow.

wildfires bloomed in Station Fire burn area

I ran across a link to an LA Times story and photo gallery on wildflowers blooming in the area of Station Fire burn. The wildflowers do not hang around for long, so they may already be gone, but seeing these photos made me smile.

Thanks to a post from May 25, 2010 wildland fire hotlist forum thread on the Station Fire for bringing this to my attention.

Rambling Chief has a new website

Some of you probably already know that Rambling Chief has a new website. Nice job! He has moved his blog over to the website, and is in the process of implementing other new features, including a forum page, links to online video streaming, and a very nice video page that he is calling wildfiretube. Be sure to make a visit.

Rambling Chief, you are doing a great job with this website. This has to be a labor of love. Thank-you!

Update #2: Rio Fire (NM) and Gilles Creek Fire (AK)

I want to take a few moments to update you on the two wildfires that I wrote about last week.

Delta Complex Fire (formerly the Gilles Creek Fire and other fires (AK)

To the best of my understanding, the Gilles Creek Fire has been merged with a few other nearby fires (Big Swede, Healy River, South Fork of Healy, and the Upper Gerstle Fires) under the Delta Complex Fires. The inciweb page for the Delta Complex Fires may be found here. The inciweb page for the Gilles Creek Fire is no longer being update, but there are several nice photos of this fire on the this inciweb photo page. The wildland fire hotlist has created a new thread for the delta complex fires that may be found here.

At the time I write this article, inciweb is reporting the all the fires comprising the delta complex total 27,546 acres with the Gilles Creek Fire coming in at 19,400 acres and 50 percent containment. As I understand it, the link that I have provided from inciweb will link to the latest incident information for the Delta Complex, so the information that I provided here will be superceded by later information.

Rio Fire (NM)

The New Mexico Fire Information Center is reporting that the Rio Fire is 100% contained at 2,200 acres. The fire was caused by humans over the Memorial Day weekend from multiple abandoned campfires. I am not sure how long this final report of the Rio Fire by the New Mexico Fire Information Center will be available. An alternate source of information is this thread from the wildland fire hotlist forums or the InciWeb. As of this writing, the inciweb page was last updated about noon EDT on Sunday, June 5 with a report that the fire is 85 contained. There are a few photos from the fire on this inciweb incident photo page.

A map of the fire (dated June 5, 2010) may be found here.

Cerro Grande Fire 10 + years later

In early May of 2000, a prescribed burn in Bandelier National Monument broke containment, eventually burning about 48,000 acres, destroying 235 homes. For a retrospective, including photos, KRQE has a webpage with links to photos, a couple of video reports, including the one I embedded above, and other information marking the tenth anniversary (in early May) of this fire. The first tanker you see looks like it is a P2V-5 (from Neptune Aviation?) and the second tanker appears to be a PB4Y-2.

The fire threatened but did not burn Los Alamos National Labs, they have a webpage with links to information about the fire. Here is a link to the Wildland Fire Staff Ride Library page on the Cerro Grande Fire. The Los Alamos Amateur Radio Club was involved with emergency communications during this fire, you may find their report on this fire here. Wikipedia has an entry devoted to the Cerro Grande Fire.

Update: Gilles Creek Fire (AK)

Inciweb is reporting that the Giles Creek Fire has grown to 17,800 acres and is 35% contained. The photo page on inciweb for this incident has been updated with new photos, check it out!

And speaking of photographs of wildland fires in Alaska, check out this photo page on picasa for other photographs of wildland fires in Alaska. There is pretty cool picture of what looks like a CL-215 water scooper.

Update#1: Wildfire near Jemez Mountains, New Mexico

The wildfire, known as the Rio Fire, that is currently burning near the Jemez mountains in New Mexico has burned 2,000 acres according to a KOB-4 news report that may be found here. The fire is 10 percent contained, and 83 structures are threatened.

Look for the latest update on the Rio Fire at New Mexico Fire Information website. According to the press release issued mid-day on June 2, four air tankers and four type-1 helos were working the fire on June 2 (along with a lead plane) in support of several wildland firefighting crews. Wildland Fire has a good thread in their hotlist forums on this fire, with details from earlier press releases on the fire along with other information.

Edited on June 3 to correct a bad link and provide an additional link for further information.

Wildfire near Jemenz Mountains in New Mexico

I ran across information about the fire shown in the video clip (courtesy of KOB-4 in Santa Fe, NM) when I was reading this thread on the wildland fire hotlist forums. I was interested in this particular fire because the folk who were making the post reported tanker and helo activity -- three P-2V's (the type II tankers) and one P-3 (the type I tanker, and a type I helo. Thanks to the link that they provided, I was able to the video clip that I embedded here.

Evacuations of nearby communities were ordered last night.

Gilles Creek Fire (AK)

Fire season is underway in various parts of the U.S. and Canada. I am always interested in noting the role of air tankers in wildland firefighting in support of the crews on the ground working to contain and then control the fire. It is my intention to report on individual fires from time to time where aerial operations are working hand in hand with ground crews.

The Gilles Creek Fire In Alaska, started by lightening on May 26 has burned about 16,400 acres as of May 31. I noted when I was reading this thread from the wildland fire hotlist forums (for Alaska), that two CL-215 scoopers had been deployed to this fire. See, for example, these photos from the inciweb photo page for this incident.

The Alaska report from the BLM for Monday May 31 reported on the role of the CL-215's: "the CL-215's worked with dozers and other equipment to reestablish containment lines."

The current Alaska report may be found here. You will see a long list of fires in the Alaska report. The Gilles Creek fire (AK-DA- Gilles Creek #219). I found the entry for the Gilles Creek fire by searching the pdf document for "Gilles Creek".

The Gilles Creek Fire is only one of several fires burning in Alaska. For more information on wildland fires in Alaska you may want to check out Alaska Wildland Fire information from the Alaska Dept. of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry, or the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center, both sites have links to the report that I linked to in the preceding paragraph.

The Fairbanks Daily News Miner reports on how firefighting agencies in Alaska are mustering resources to fight wildfires in Alaska here.

Finally, you may find information on wildfires in Alaska on the Alaska IA hotlist forum from wildland fire.

Happy Memorial Day

I want to pause on this Memorial Day and say a heartfelt thank-you to all veterans out there, past and current. Thank-you for your service to your country, and for all you do to help to keep us safe.

About hotshot crews

This short video - documentary by a hotshot crew member provides a good overview of life on a hotshot crew. For a description of the different types of wildland fire (U.S. Federal Government) ground crews, including type 1 interagency hotshot crews see this webpage.

Wildland firefighting: Station Fire Redux

There are some fires that I will never forget and the Station Fire that burned in Los Angeles County last August and September is one of them. I was watching live streaming and exchanging e-mails with a friend when they found the bodies of Firefighters Hall and Quinones. This is something you don't forget.

I watched live feed over a couple of days as the airtankers and helos and later the ground crews fought the fire at the Wilson Observatory.

Thank-you Wildland Firefighters

Australia: Tribute to wildland firefighters

near miss: airplane versus terrain

I recently ran across this video on the wildland fire hotlist forums.

Some terminology:

VFR refers to visual flight rules.
IMC: instrument meteorological conditions (i.e. I can not see).
IFR: instrument flight rules, flying with instruments when you can not see.
scud running: flying in VFR conditions or under the clouds to avoid IMC conditions.

Here is a Dept. of Interior "Lessons Learned" Aviation safety advisory on inadvertent flight into instrument meteorological conditions.

Fire shelters redux

Perhaps the most important piece of personal protection equipment outside of fireproof clothing that every wildland firefighter carries on her or his person is the fire shelter. Training in the proper use of a fire shelter can be a life saver.

Addendum on May 24, 2010: A friend of mine who is a wildland firefighter tells me that the video shows how they practice with their shelters. They use fans to simulate the wind, and it is a lot harder to work with the shelter with the wind blowing on you. He goes on to say that the video makes it look a lot easier than it is.

Remembering the Zaca Fire

This is a nice 9+ minute photo montage, photos by Cathy L. Gregg, showing a two month time line of the Zaca Fire. The Zaca Fire burned for two month an and around the Los Padres National Forest in California before being contained on September 2, 2007 at 240,207 acres. It was not officially declared out until Oct. 29, 2007.

The videographer, has a nice short history of the Zaca Fire in the information portion of the youtube video page that may be found here.

Some of you may remember that it is following and the writing about the Basin Complex Fire that burned 162,818 acres in Los Padres National Forest in July of 2008 that got me started on writing about wildland firefighting. It was not long afterwards that I first heard about the Zaca Fire. You may go here and here to find out more about the Basin Complex Fire.

I like the video, Remembering the Zaca Fire, because it is a nice montage of photos showing ground crews and air resources working together to contain the fire.

Fighting wildland fires with handtools in Tennessee

This is a nice video that I found recently on using handtools to fight wildland fires in Tennessee. They show each tool, describing how the tool is used. But they go a step further, using some graphics to show the fire while describing how to fight a wildland fire in the often steep terrain found in the Tennessee mountains. While some of the specifics in this fifteen minute video, e.g. the use of a portable leaf blower to blow away leaf litter, are specifically applicable to the hardwood forests in TN and/or the steep terrain, I enjoyed this glimpse into the hard word involved in fighting wildland fires. And I hope that you do as well.

I would caution you to keep in mind that this video only talks about the use of handtools. Remember that there are a variety of tools in the arsonal used by wildland fire fighting agencies, such as dozers, and various trucks and water tenders, and lets not forget the support of our friends in the sky -- tankers and helos.

Wildland firefighting: training is important

This video clip that I have embedded provides a quick overview of wildland fire training crew training sponsored by the Oregon Department of Forestry.

I am not a wildland firefighter, nor will I be, so I can not speak from personal experience on the matter of training. Nor can I speak to any State and/or region specific differences among training courses. As I understand it, some of the training is nationally mandated, with some leeway for State and/or regional specifics. For example, issues concerning how to stay safe are important to wildland firefighters everywhere.

But I suspect that there is enough similarity that the above video provides those of us who can not experience the training first hand to get an idea of what such training involves. So, it is in this spirit that I offer this video.

i was curious about the type of training offered by the NJ Forest Fire Service, and two of the Section website that I go to provide some answers, The NJFFS Division A Section 2 website has a training and information page.

Two of the publications referred to on the NJFFS Division A Section 2 website are the Yellow firefighter's Pocket Guide aka Incident Response Pocket Guide and the Fireline Handbook.

The crew info page found on the NJFFS Division B Section 10 includes a listing of NJFFS sponsored training courses.

wildland firefighting ground crews

I have been thinking recently about the role that airtankers and helos play in supporting the fire fighting crews on the ground. So, I am going to spend a little time here on the crews on the crews on the ground.

I found the video that I embedded above recently As you can see it is a video from the Oregon Department of Forestry recruiting wildland fire fighters. I like the video because it provides what I think is a nice overview of the kind of work that wildland firefighters do, including the physical demands. I also like the photography and videography.

I am not going to even try to speak for the hiring practices of the different wildland firefighting agencies, whether the be public (state or federal) or private. But some jobs on wildland firefighting crews are temporary, summer employment. And with the spring college/university terms finishing up, perhaps this means that recruiting for these jobs has already happened.

Kudos to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service

We are in the middle of our third day in a row of red flag warnings, I want to pause and say:

kudos to all at the New Jersey Forest Fire Service for all that you do protect us here in NJ.

I know that it has been a tough couple of days for you. You did a great job containing the major fire, Baffin Brook Fire in Pemberton Twsp. (Burlington County) over the weekend. A 450 wildfire is a major fire, at least for us here in NJ. But it could have been a whole lot worse. And no structures were damaged, and there were minimal injuries to one firefighter, I believe. There were numerous other fires of varying sizes on Saturday that kept you busy around the State. And after mid-afternoon that day, the high winds grounded your aircraft.

If I am correct, the wildfire activity yesterday (Sunday, May 9) were small in size and quickly brought under control.

Today, many of you are continuing to patrol your areas to watch out for early signs of wildfires on this day of red flag warnings covering much of the State. The winds are much lighter today, so I suspect that your SEATs are responding, as warranted on initial attack. I don't know what you are finding today, I guess I'll find out later. And as they say, no news is good news.

Thank-you and stay safe!

Update: NJ wildfire activity on May 8

The wildland fire that I wrote about yesterday in the Country Lakes section of Pemberton Twsp (Burlington County, NJ), was 100% contained at 9 AM this morning according to this post on the wildland fire hotlist forums.

The Courier Post, covering southern NJ has an article about the fire with a photo gallery.

There were a few fires in southern NJ (Division C), an update on those fires may be found at this post on the wildland fire hotlist forums. Finally, a 25-acre fire in Waterford/Atco was contained yesterday afternoon according to the wildland fire hotlist.

We are currently seeing Red Flag Warning conditions again in much of New Jersey. I have not been listening to today's scanner feed, so I don't what has been going on today. I have not yet seen any reports of fire activity today in either the wildland fire hotlist forums or the Section B10 website, which may only mean that updates have not yet been posted. I'll post something later if I hear of any sizable fire activity today.

NJ wildfire activity, May 8: videos

The video is from the ABC news affiliate (channel 6) in Philly. They reported 50% containment at 11 PM on May 8. Note that they are reporting that wind (gusts up to 40 mph) grounded the aircraft this afternoon. Something I myself heard when I was listening to the online scanner streams this afternoon.

Thanks to the webmaster of the NJFFS Section B10 webpage for the links!

Fire activity in NJ on May 8

As you know from my previous post, Red Flag Warnings are currently in effect for southern NJ; all of DE; and portions of SE PA, MD. and VA until 8 PM this evening (May 8, 2010). Enhanced fire weather conditions exist in portions of northern NJ as well. A fire weather watch is in effect for tomorrow. A wind advisory is currently in effect until 6 AM Sunday. As I write this, winds are gusting at about 30 to 35 knots.

There is what may be a major fire currently burning near the Country Lakes Area of Pemberton, NJ (Burlington County) near Rte. 70. I have been monitoring this thread on the Wildland Fire hotlist forums. In addition, I expect that the NJFFS Section B10 website will provide another update either later today or early tomorrow, depending on their ability to update their website. Obviously, if the webmaster is working the fire, those updates will come later. A report from NJ.com may be found here and a report from Philly.com may be found here. Photos from Philly.com may be found here.

I have been monitoring the online scanner feed for Division B of the NJ Forest Fire Service (available here) for most of the afternoon. In the time that I have been listening to this scanner feed, I have heard reports of numerous small fires.

Scanner feed for Division A of the NJ Forest Fire Service is available at this location.

Stay safe everyone!

Red Flag Warning

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
202 PM EDT SAT MAY 8 2010

...HIGH WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITIES INTO THIS EVENING..

DEZ001>003-MDZ008-012-015-019-020-NJZ012-013-015>023-027-PAZ060-
067>071-090000-
/O.NEW.KPHI.FW.W.0006.100508T1802Z-100509T0000Z/
NEW CASTLE-KENT-INLAND SUSSEX-CECIL-KENT MD-QUEEN ANNES-TALBOT-
CAROLINE-MIDDLESEX-WESTERN MONMOUTH-MERCER-SALEM-GLOUCESTER-
CAMDEN-NORTHWESTERN BURLINGTON-OCEAN-CUMBERLAND-ATLANTIC-CAPE MAY-
SOUTHEASTERN BURLINGTON-BERKS-CHESTER-MONTGOMERY-BUCKS-DELAWARE-
PHILADELPHIA-
202 PM EDT SAT MAY 8 2010

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING...

WITH LITTLE, IF ANY, RAINFALL FROM THIS MORNING, INCREASING
WINDS, AND LOWERING HUMIDITIES, FINE FUELS ARE DRYING OUT THIS
AFTERNOON. BECAUSE OF THIS, THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT
HOLLY HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8
PM EDT THIS EVENING.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF
STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL
CREATE THE POTENTIAL FOR RAPID FIRE GROWTH.

&&

$$

KRUZDLO

Update: NJFFS SEATs on Contract

As of May 5, 2010:

Division A (northern NJ)
Aeroflex -- Alpha 2 -- 300 Ag-Cat -- 4/3 through 5/12 -- 40 Days
Aeroflex -- Alpha 3 -- 300 Ag-Cat -- 4/3 through 5/12 -- 40 Days
Division B (central NJ)
Miller -- Bravo 1 -- 602 Air Tractor -- 4/3 through 5/19 -- 47 Days
Allaire -- Bravo 2 -- 300 Ag-Cat -- 4/3 through 5/5 -- 33 Days (off contract)
Division C (Southern NJ)
Downstown -- Charlie 1 -- 602 Air Tractor -- 4/3 through 5/12 -- 40 Days
Hammonton -- Charlie 2 -- 300 Ag-Cat -- 4/3 through 5/12 -- 40 Days 

Thank-you SEATs and Helos

The two larger wildfires that happened in NJ last month, the Owassa Fire and another fire known as the Weber Fire got me thinking about the important role that SEATs (single-engine air tankers) and helos (helicopters) play in wildland firefighting. The two fires that I wrote about are but examples where SEATs were deployed, working to support the firefighters on the ground. In the case of the Owassa Fire, a helo with a bucket was deployed as well.

These two fires gave me pause to consider and to remind myself that tankers of all sizes, including the SEATs and helos with buckets are making drops in support of the firefighters on the ground. It is all these resources working together -- NJ Forest Fire Service firefighters, municipal firefighters, and aerial resources that brought these two fires under control without damage to near by residences. Sadly a firefighter riding an ATV at the Owassa Fire had a severe head injury and the last I heard he was recovering.

But those two "larger" fires do not represent the only fires in NJ were SEATs and were used. There are other smaller fires where SEATs have made at least one drop. SEATs make drops on fires as small as one-quarter of an acre. This can happen when the SEAT arrives before the ground crews and makes a drop. Or perhaps the ground crews are having trouble accessing the fire for some reason so the SEAT arrives and makes a drop, knocking down the small fire until the ground crews can get in. When I see that a SEAT made one or more drops on a small fire whether it be three acres or 1/4 of an acre, I know that the SEAT pilot worked with the fire fighters on the ground and together the fire was brought under control during the initial attack phase. And I think, "nice going and thank-you!"

When the SEATs are not on contract, there are provisions for SEATs to be deployed to fires when conditions warrant. A recent example being the Paramount Fire that burned 540 acres in Barnegat NJ on March 20. SEATs were not on contract, but were deployed to the Paramount Fire. You were not "on contract", you were asked to come and make drops to support the crews on the ground and you did just that. That fire could have been a whole lot worse, it wasn't. No structures were loss and injuries to firefighters, if any, were minimal.

Thank-you SEAT and helo pilots!

Watching Fire Weather

By now you have probably noticed the changes that I have made to the layout of this blog, including a text box for the NJ Forest Fire Service on the right-hand side of the page. You have probably noticed that for the last month or so, I have been making daily updates reporting on fire weather forecasts in New Jersey. I got started on this exercise on or about April 3, around the time our contract aircraft (AgCats and AT-602) went on contract.

I developed a routine. One of the first things I do in the morning is to log on to the webpage for the Mt. Holly Office of the National Weather Service. More accurately, I log on to their webpage for emergency managers where they have a lot of useful weather related links including one to a page for the fire weather. So, I read the fire weather forecast and as appropriate also read any hazardous weather forecasts where Fire Weather Watches and Red Flag Warnings are reported. This started as a way where I could at least follow along on what the NJ Forest Fire Service and wildland fire fighting agencies in the adjoining States of DE, PA, and NY might be doing that day. I can say that on a daily basis, I do think about these wildland fire fighting agencies and hope that in some small way I honor what these men and women are doing to keep us safe in my corner of America.

However, in the process of reporting on fire weather forecasts I have learned how quickly fire weather concerns can develop. For example, on March 30, I wrote about yet another round of flooding concerns in NJ. If memory serves, there was little if any rain for the next week and the temperatures were on the warm side for early April. By April 5, we were under Red Flag Warnings, followed by a Fire Weather Watch on April 6 and another Red Flag Warning on April 7.

The Owassa Fire started the afternoon of April 7 to be reported under control on April 8. For more on this fire you may want to see the articles that I wrote here and here as well as a some video showing AgCats and a helo working the fire that I embedded in an article that you may find here.

Kudos to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service! Thank-you!

MAFFS II: update

In April 2009 (April 20 to 29), I wrote a series of articles about the modular airborne firefighting system (MAFFS) that may be found here, ending with an article on the second generation MAFFS unit. To summarize, MAFFS are Air National Guard or Air Force Reserve military C-130's outfitted with a modular airborne firefighting system (aka MAFFS). There are eight of these C-130s at four bases around the country. The MAFFS are only activated when all other "civilian" air tankers are committed to initial attack of extended attack incidents. There is a second generation MAFFS called MAFFS II.

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today recently reported that the MAFFS air tankers and crew were in South Carolina for training and recertification. You will also want to read his reporting on the MAFFS II units here (January 2009) and here (April 2010). I know that some of you follow WildfireToday and will be familiar with his reporting on the MAFFS II. Those of you who are not familiar with Bill's reporting will want to take some time to read his excellent articles, with photos!

Martin Mars

I love watching the Martin Mars. The videographer was running early on to get in position, accounting for the heavy breathing early on. The footage shows the Hawaii Mars while it was based at Lake Elsinore near Hemet-Ryan last December.

Thanks to a friend who told me "The lake the MARS is dipping out of is actually Diamond Valley Resevoir, 3 miles south of Ryan AAB and 18 miles east of Lake Elisnor. This was during the final days of the contract, they were doing foam test drops up near Poppet Flats, about 13 miles northeast of Ryan AAB.

Enjoy

Training camp for wildland firefighters

This video is shot at the training camp put on by Boulder Mountain Contracting in British Columbia, Canada for rookie wildland firefighters. I like the video because it provides a short look at what this training entails. While shot in Canada, I suspect that some of the training is the same in America.

For a look at a training camp in America, Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today wrote recently about the Nebraska Wildland Fire Academy complete with some good photos. His articles may be found here and here.

Remember air tankers and helos do what they do in support of the crews on the ground.

Thanks to the folk at the NJFFS Section B-10 website for posting this video and bringing it to my attention.

Air Tanker crash in New Brunswick CA on April 23

Yesterday, I read about the crash of an air tanker, a TBM Avenger, while reading this article posted by Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today on April 24. The Avenger crashed shortly after 2 PM on April 23 in Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada. The pilot and sole occupant, Ron Clowes, the sole occupant was killed. Ron Clowes, an experienced pilot with over 13,000 hours was flying for Forest Protection Ltd on a routine training run. He had worked for the Forest Protection for about a decade. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating the crash.

You may read more about the accident in an article published by the Telegraph-Journal. A report by CTV may be found here.

I offer my deepest condolences to Ron's family, friends, and colleagues. May you fly in favorable winds.

In memorium: T-42 lost one year ago today

One year ago we lost T-42 and her crew, Tom Risk (PIC), Mike Flynn (c/p) and Brian Buss (flight engineer). They were on their way to the 4-mile fire in New Mexico when they crashed in heavy fog in the Oquirrh Mountains in Utah.

I'd like to thank the friend who sent me a link to this article posted today in the Fire Rescue Magazine blog.

Rest in peace. I know that you are flying in favorable winds.

helo footage at Owassa Fire

This is some nice footage of the Delta 6, the NJ Forest Fire Service UH-1H (Huey) helicopter with a 300-gallon bucket working the Owassa Fire.

Wildfre! 1970 wildfires in WA

This is another video released by the National Archives and Records Administration and freely hosted at FedFlix Internet Archives. This video is about wildfires that burned in the summer of 1970 in the state of Washington in the Wenatchee National Forest. It is a long video, about 50 minutes.

Smokey conditions along with wind may have kept aircraft away from the fire for the first few days. You will see some footage of helicopters with buckets working the fire about 30 minutes or so into the video. And at about 40 minutes, you will see s few minutes of nice footage of air tankers working the fire.

It is worth the time to watch this video, so if you don't have time right now, come back later when you have about 50 minutes to spare. It is worth it.

Added on June 15, 2016: I don't think that either the link or the embedded video on this article is working. Over the next several days, I'll try to take some time to get new links for you. Please be patient. 

Location for start of 1985 Monroe NJ wildfire

I was able to pinpoint what I think is the approximate location of the start of the wildfire that burned in Monroe Twsp., NJ in 1985. This is noted by the yellow placemarker in the image that I got from Google Earth last night. I want to point out that in 1985 this area was all (or mostly) pine woods. The homes that are there now were not there in 1985. For more information on this fire see yesterday's post.

Update: Wildland FF to run in Racing the Planet Australia 2010

Rambling Chief just sent me a link to this article from FDNNTV News reporting on Kenneth Perry's upcoming ultramarathon (155 mile race) in the upcoming Racing the Planet Australia 2010. I understand that when Ken will be doing an interview with FDNN TV News when he returns. The race starts on April 25.

Historical NJ Wildfire (1985) Monroe Twsp. (Middlesex County)

A friend of mine sent me a link to an article about wildfire that burned hundreds of acres in April 1985 in Monroe NJ. Before I get to the fire, the article reminded of the extent of the NJ Pine Barrens ecosystem. For example, there is an isolated parcel of the Pine Barrens in Middlesex County that the article refers to as the Spotswood outlier (north of the protected Pinelands). Many people tend to think of the NJ Pine Barrens as being one and the same as the federal and state protected Pinelands in southern NJ. However, the larger Pine Barrens ecosystem extends beyond the borders of the protected Pinelands. The Pine Barrens are especially prone to wildfires. If my thinking is correct, the 1985 Monroe Twsp. fire was in the area referred to as the Spotswood Outlier, a 12 mile by 12 mile pine barrens ecosystem that includes Thompson Park where the NJ Forest Fire Service has its Jamesburg fire tower.

There were enhanced fire conditions on Friday April 19, 1985 with a relative humidity around 24 percent along with winds of about 18 mph. At 10:58 AM a NJ Forest Fire observer stationed at the Jamesburg Fire Tower noticed smoke about two miles north-northeast of the tower in some pine woods. The result was a 700-acre fire and one of the largest firefighting efforts in the history of Monroe Township. The fire was declared under control on April 20 around 3 PM, but was not declared out until 18 days later. The fire was human caused.

For more on the fire, read this article from The Sentinal. I don't know how long this article, dated April 15, will be freely available.

For more information about the NJ Pine Barrens, you may want to check out PineyPower and the Pinelands Preservation Alliance.

I am not familiar enough with the area to pinpoint the area of the 1985 fire with any degree of certainty. If I am able to find such a map to show you, I'll post it here at a later time. In the meantime, I am posting an image from google earth showing Middlesex County NJ and environs. The area labeled Jamesburg, NJ is in the general vicinity of where I think the fire was located.

I was poking around on youtube this afternoon looking at tanker videos when I found this video taking from the cockpit of a dromader M18 SEAT. I believe that the footage was taken in Wisconsin.

Enjoy!

NJ wildfire: Weber Fire (4/11/10)

The Weber fire in Middlesex County (NJFFS Division B Section 10), NJ burned at least 30 acres on Sunday afternoon, April 10 before being brought under control at about 18:30 hours that same evening. See this thread from the wildland fire hotlist and also this newspaper article for more information about the fire. I first saw the video (embedded here) on the Section B10 website a couple of days ago in their videos of the week section. You will see just how close the fire came to the residences on Weber Ave. in Sayerville NJ. Several municipal fire departments including those from near by towns, ground crews from the NJ Forest Fire Service, and at least one AgCat worked together to contain the fire several hours after it started. I understand that there was another SEAT working the fire, I'm not sure if it was a second AgCat or the AT-602 assigned to Division B.

During the first three minutes various municipal fire fighters are shown fighting the fire in the residential neighborhood. At about 3 minutes and 40 seconds, ground crews from the NJ Forest Fire Service are shown fighting the fire in the grass behind the houses, including lighting back fires.

You will see an AgCat flying overhead at about 5 minutes and again at 5 minutes 20 seconds into the video, but you don't see the actual drop. At 7 minutes 15 seconds and again at about 8 minutes 46 seconds you will see an AgCat dropping water.

Nice job everyone!

Watershed Wildfire (Los Padres Ntl. Forest 1958)

About a week ago, Rambling Chief made this post about three historical wildfire documentaries that are now freely available at the FedFlix video archive. I believe that history is important, so I am going to make individual posts of these three videos, in chronological order. This is video is about a wildfire that burned in 1958 in the Los Padres National Forest in California, dubbed the Watershed Fire. I'll post the next video in a few days, so stay tuned. Or, you can visit RamblingChiefs via the link above to watch all three.

Allow about 20 minutes to watch this video.

Added on June 15, 2016: I don't think that either the link or the embedded video on this article is working. Over the next several days, I'll try to take some time to get new links for you. Please be patient. 

Aerial Operations at the Owassa Fire

The webmaster of the NJFFS Section B10 webpage told me about this video that he had posted to his webpage last night and I want to post it here so that you may enjoy this footage. There is some decent footage of the NJFFS UH-1H Huey Helicopter -- Delta 6 -- performing bucket operations with its 300-gallon bambi bucket. For those of you who want to see an AgCat in action, you will see two drops by the Ag Cat. Now, I don't know if we are seeing one or two AgCats. Two AgCats were working the fire on April 7 and I understand that the tanker base is about a 15 minute flight from the fire. So, if the video we are seeing is what was seen in real time, then I am pretty certain that we are seeing the two AgCats from Division A (Alpha 1 and Alpha 2).

I am thrilled to have some video footage of an AgCat flying a fire in New Jersey to show you. Enjoy!

Be-200 showing her stuff

With the help of RamblingChief, I was able to figure out how to embed one of the CA news outlets video report, KSBY, on the arrival of the Be-200 on Wednesday night (4/7/10) to this blog article from April 8. I did spend some time trying to embed the second video that I found that day, to no avail.

Anyway, I am moving the video on the Be-200 showing her stuff to her own post.

Owassa Fire (Sussex County, NJ): under control

According to the last update on this wildlandfire hotlist thread the final report on the Owassa Fire was issued on April 9, 2010 at 10:00 hr. The fire is now under control as of 10:00 AM on April 9. The firefighter who was in the ATV accident was seriously injured with a skull fracture. He had successful surgery at a NJ Hospital/Trauma Center where he will remain for a few more days. You will want to read the report that I linked to for more information.

Let us pause for a moment to offer our thoughts and prayers for this injured firefighter.

Owassa Fire (Sussex County, NJ): 80% contained

I had noted a few hours ago on the NJFFS Section B-10 website that the Owassa Fire had burned 105 acres and was 80 percent contained this morning. I was waiting for an update from the wildland fire hotlist forums before posting an update. I recently saw that an update has been posted to this thread (at 15:30 on 4/8/10) that you will want to check out for more details.

Of note from the update:

• As of 15:30 on April 8, the fire had burned 105 acres and was 80% contained,
• the cause of the fire is related to a power line and is still being investigated, 
• three fire fighters were treated and released last night for smoke related injuries, and another fire fighter had a head injury today as the result of an ATV accident. The fire fighter with the head injury was taken to the hospital for treatment,
• a helo with a bambi bucket was working the fire at the time of the update (15:30 on 4/8/10).

Be-200 working a fire

Berieve Be-200 has landed

I wrote here that the Russian amphibious firefighting aircraft, the Be-200, is coming to Santa Maria CA this week. Well it has arrived on April 7. I came across this video on the arrival of the Be-200. Another video report, this one from KCOY, may be found here and an article on the Be-200's arrival may be found here. The Be-200 will be at Santa Maria for about one week and details are being worked out for a planned demonstration early next week. I believe that the Be-200 is not yet certified for use in the United States.

I understand that there are open hours for visitors this coming Saturday and Sunday from 2PM to 5 PM in front of the Radisson Hotel at the Santa Maria Airport. I am on the opposite coast so am able to come her up close and in person. Perhaps some of you who are near by will be able to go see her.

Updated on April 9, 2010 at #;55 PM EDT. I'd like to thank RamblingChief for his help in pointing me to the embed code.

Fire Activity in NJ on April 7: update #3

This video, from the ABC affiliate in Philadelphia, focuses on the fires in Central New Jersey (Division B), some of which I reported on earlier today.

And here is a link with a story reporting on wildfires in central New Jersey and the Owassa Fire in northern New Jersey. Finally, here is a link from earlier this afternoon about the Owassa Fire.

Owassa Fire: Sussex County NJ

There is a wildfire, currently 40 acres in a remote area of Sussex County NJ called the NJ-NJS Owassa Fire. Two Ag Cats and a Huey helo dropped water on the head of the fire, along with a fourth aircraft that arrived sometime before dark. These aerial operations ended at dark today to resume tomorrow (Thursday April 8) morning. The fire is in a mountainous area of Sussex County. The hand crews are being pulled from the mountainous terrain this evening and will resume their operations tomorrow morning. There is no containment at this time and some evacuations from a nearby residential area have been made as a safety measure. Fire patrols will continue through the night. For more information, see this thread on the wildland fire hotlist.

The image above is the area where I believe the Owassa Fire is occurring, as it seems to fit the description in the wildland fire hotlist thread that I referred to: west of Lake Owassa.

Stay safe everyone and kudos to the NJ Forest Fire Service.

Fire Activity in NJ on April 7: update #2

A second update on the Red Flag Warnings covering all of New Jersey today. I continye to listen to scanner feed from Division B of the NJFFS (central NJ) and have heard about this fire reported on the Section B10 webpage:

Jackson Twp (Ocean County), Colliers Mills WMA -- Section B9. The last report from Delta 5, a UH-1H Huey Helicopter is that this is a 4 or 5 acre fire. Delta 5, assigned to Division B, can handle a 300-gallon bambi bucket. I don't know if Delta 5 is making water drops with the bucket. Bravo 1 (AT-602), Bravo 2 (Ag-Cat) and Charlie 1 (an AT-602 from Division C) have made multiple drops on this fire (updated at 17:20).

Updated April 8 at 12:15 PM
The Section B10 webpage provided an update on the fire in Jackson Twsp NJ on April 7 at 20:57. The size of the fire is 5 acres and the status is UC.

Note added April 8, 9:50 PM

Note that the NJFFS Section B-10 website is updated frequently. For example, the section on current NJ wildfire activity that I am referring to is updated as new fire activity occurs and older fires drop off the list.  Perhaps you are visiting here for the first time several days after April 7 and reading this article for the first time. Perhaps you are reading some of the other articles I wrote on April 7 about that day's wildfire activity in NJ. In this scenario, when you go to the Section B-10 webpage you are going to see postings about what will then be current NJ wildfire activity and not for today's fires.

Fire activity in NJ on April 7: update #1

An update on the Red Flag Warnings covering all of New Jersey today. I have been listening to scanner feed from Division B of the NJFFS (central NJ) and have heard about some of these fires reported on the Section B10 webpage:

Two fires under control:

1. Howell Township (Monmouth County) -- Section B8, acreage unknown, Bravo 2 (Ag-Cat) made three drops, status UC at 12:39 on April 7

2. Marlboro Twp (Monmouth County) -- Section B10 .50 forest - Status UC at 1438 on April 7

Updated April 8 at 12:15 PM
As of 15:00 on April 7, there are three fires in Pemberton Twsp in the Ongs Hat area (Burlington County) in Section B3. Bravo 1 (AT-602) and Bravo 2 (Ag Cat) are making drops. I have hiked near here on a couple of occasions. Late in the day on April 7, the NJFFS Section B10 website reported the status of this fire as UC.

Stay safe everyone! I don't know the status of any fire activity in Divisions A or C. I am going to keep listening to the Division B scanner feed.

Note added April 8, 9:50 PM

Note that the NJFFS Section B-10 website is updated frequently. For example, the section on current NJ wildfire activity that I am referring to is updated as new fire activity occurs and older fires drop off the list.  Perhaps you are visiting here for the first time several days after April 7 and reading this article for the first time. Perhaps you are reading some of the other articles I wrote on April 7 about that day's wildfire activity in NJ. In this scenario, when you go to the Section B-10 webpage you are going to see postings about what will then be current NJ wildfire activity and not for today's fires.

Red Flag Warning in NJ and online scanner feed

I got the map shown above from the National Weather Services Experimental Fire Weather Page, the counties colored in red are under Red Flag Warnings. You can see that the Red Flag Warnings extend to other States in the Mid Atlantic region and into southern New England. To see a copy of the Red Flag Warning issued by the Mt. Holly Office of the National Weather Service for portions of NJ and eastern PA, see this post on wildland fire.

In my wanderings around the web this morning I have seen that various media outlets have reported on the Red Flag Warnings, see for example here and here.

I saw on another post on the wildland fire hotlist forums that the NJ Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) has what they call Patrol Level One in each Section of each of the three Divisions today. What this means is that the section warden plus one other NJFFS firefighter is patroling each section.

For the last three days, I have spent a part of each afternoon listening to live scanner feed from the NJ Forest Fire Service on Radio Reference. For example the scanner feed from the NJFFS Division A may be found here, and the Division B feed may be found here. I did not see a feed for Division C on Radio Reference.

I have been learning a lot by listening to the live scanner feed from the NJFFS. I am not going to report on what I am listening because I can't be sure that I will "get it right." But I can say, for example, that while I was listening to the Division B feed on Monday afternoon, I heard them mention "Bravo 1", the AT-602 assigned to Division B being sent to a fire, finding out later in the day from the Section B10 website that the AT-602 had made a couple of drops on a fire in Barnegat Twp. in Ocean County.

If you don't hear anything more from me on today's Red Flag conditions here in NJ that will probably mean that there was light initial attack that was quickly dealt with by the very capable folk at the NJFFS.

Light initial attack in central NJ

As you know, all of NJ except for the five northeastern counties are under red flag warnings through 6PM this afternoon and a fire watch through tomorrow afternoon. I have been listening to live scanner feed from Division B (central NJ) of the NJ Forest Fire Service for most of the afternoon. I don't know much details, but I what I have been listening to on the scanner suggests initial attack on at least wildland fire. I just went to wildland fire to see if someone had posted about this, and saw this posting about the red flag warning and light initial attack in Division B.

I just now checked the NJFFS Section B-10 webpage and found an update at 5:20 PM EDT on today's initial attack activity in Division B. Bravo 2 (Ag Cat), made a drop on a fire on Rte. 547 (Howell Twsp, Monmouth County?) in Section B8. Bravo 1 (AT-602) has made two drops on a fire near West. Bay Ave in Section B4. I believe that the fire in Section B4 is near Barnegat Twsp (Ocean County).

Aerial firefighting in Pennsylvania

I have been on the lookout for videos that show aerial firefighting in my part of the U.S. (mid-atlantic). I was delighted to find this video to show you about a SEAT fighting fires in Pennsylvania.

Enjoy!

Air Tractors

Beautiful photography of an elegant airplane in action. The video served to remind me that in addition to its role as a SEAT for firefighting, the Air Tractor plays an important role as a crop duster. Enjoy!

Jesusita Fire Videos: what wind driven wildfires can do

Two videos (part 1 and part 2) showing footage of the Jesusita Fire that burned in Santa Barbara CA in May 2009. Some incredible footage up close and personal with the fire, including some audio scanner feed. Allow about 13 minutes for the two videos.

I did not enable the HD feature in order to allow for faster load times. To watch the videos in HD click on the video to go to youtube and then select 720 resolution in the menu bar at the bottom of the video.