I have blogged about aerial wildland firefighting since 2009. I am not a firefighter and am not a pilot, just an interested bystander who wants to learn more and share what I learn here. Join me here as I blog on the aircraft and the pilots who fight wildland fires from the air in support of crews on the ground. I also blog on concerns affecting fire crews on the ground as well as other aviation and meteorology issues. Learn what it takes to do jobs that are staffed by the best of the best.
CAL FIRE (CDF) S2T Tanker 71 working Sawtooth Complex Fire (2006)
Sawtooth Complex Fire (Sept. 2006), San Bernardino County CA. Photo Credit: U.S. Forest Service
The New Jersey Forest Service (NJFFS) has implemented stage 2 campfire restrictions in Division A (northern New Jersey) and Cape May, Salem, and Cumberland counties in Division C (southern New Jersey). In addition, High Fire Danger has expanded to include Division C. See this post from the NJFFS for more information. A map showing the coverage area for all the Divisions may be found on this NJFFS webpage. This map may has a lot of detail, showing the sections within the Division as well as primary and secondary response areas. However, it does not show the counties. I will list the counties included in each Division below the images.
Division A (northern NJ) Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Warren, Hopewell Township in Mercer County, Union, Hunterdon, Middlesex (north of Raritan River)
Division B (Central NJ: Burlington, Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex (south of the Raritan River), Mercer County except Hopewell Township
Division C (Southern NJ): Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem
It is a quiet but slightly warm late September day in northern New Jersey. However, after we had above average precipitation in 2018 lasting into at least the first six months of 2019, the rain faucet has been down to a trickle the last five weeks. I recorded no rain at all from August 24th through the end of that month and .85 inches to date in September. No, this is not a drought, at this point it is abnormally dry according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
There would have been a time before I started this blog eleven years ago when my only thoughts would have that I might have to pay more attention to watering some plants and shrubs and wondering how my teenaged trees are making out. Asides from the need to do more watering, I doubt if I would have given five weeks with little rain more thought. I doubt if increased fire danger would have crossed my mind. I am a different person now.
Now I am quite aware that with the lack of rainfall over the last five weeks comes an increase in fire danger. To be clear, the National Weather Service has not, to date issued any fire weather watches or red flag warnings for New Jersey and environs, but according to the New Jersey Forest Fire much of northern New Jersey (Division A) is seeing high fire danger with stage 1 camp fire restrictions in place. Stage 1 campfire restrictions mean that
Fires directly on the ground will be prohibited unless in a prepared fire ring. Fires on mineral soil which will not endanger the forest, such as in a gravel pit, may be permitted at the discretion of the Forest Firewarden issuing the permit. A prepared fire ring must be constructed of steel, stone, brick, or concrete with a gravel or masonry base.
For more information on fire danger and restrictions in New Jersey go to this NJFFS webpage.
I am very comforted to know that with what might be an early start to the fall wildfire season they have ramped up their activities across the state to keep us as safe as possible from wildfires. All fire towers in Divisions A,B, and C have been staffed at least since Wednesday, September 25th. I am fairly certain that NJFFS wildland firefighters have been doing daily patrols, at least in northern New Jersey but perhaps in central and southern New Jersey as well. I have not heard any information about major wildfires, and if I learn of any such activity I will report back.
I want to offer my heartfelt thanks to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service for all that they do to keep us safe here in New Jersey.
It is still a little early for 2019 fire crew videos, those will come later. In the meantime enjoy these two crew videos from the 2018 wildfire season.
I believe but am not certain that the two videos that I am embedding below are type 2 fire crews. All types of fire crews play an important role in fighting wildfires. Your work and sacrifices are important, thank-you.
Rarely a day goes by when I do not think about pilots flying tankers, helicopters, lead planes, bird dog aircraft, and observation aircraft over wildfires in support of the wildland firefighters on the ground.
You do what you do because you love flying and care about doing all that you can to help those on the ground.
You go through pre-season recurrency training as required by contract.
You get weather briefings before you go, if it is too windy, foggy, or there are thunderstorms in the area you won't fly.
There are restrictions in your on-call hours, and mandated daily off-duty time and days off.
You want to be safe when you fly and you want those on the ground to be safe.
You communicate with other aircraft and those on the ground to coordinate where to drop your water or retardant.
You fly low when you make your drops.
What you do is dangerous.
Depending on where you are based and where your family is, you may be away from home for weeks during wildfire season.
If activity is slow, and you are on contract, then there may be hours when you are hanging around your base passing time, doing whatever you do to relax and pass time.
Know that you are appreciated. Words are wholly inadequate to express my gratitude for what you do and the sacrifices you make. Thank-you from the bottom of my heart.
Today is climate strike day and in honor of all the climate strikes going on around the world, I am suspending my normal blog and asking you to reflect on the words of Greta Thunberg, a sixteen year old activist from Sweden. But before you do, please, please do check award winning cartoonist Bill Day's cartoon that I will call "is this anyway to treat to your mother." I first came across an early version of this cartoon over 25 years ago. I still have the dog eared cartoon in my home office. It always brings tears to my eyes.
I am a non-pilot member of the AOPA. Actually the AOPA makes no distinction between pilots and non-pilot's in their fee structure but for purposes of this blog it is important that I be clear that I am a non-pilot aviation enthusiast. The AOPA puts out a weekly video called AOPA Live, an interesting video about 25 to 30 minutes long with weekly aviation news. They do not only focus on general aviation as is evident by The AOPA Live episode on May 23, 2019. In that week's episode that had a report on CAL Fire's aviation program. Because the video was about 27 minutes long, I did not share it here. I recently found the clip devoted to Cal Fire's aviation program so I am sharing it here, a direct link to the clip from AOPA Live may be found here. AOPA Live has a youtube channel where I also found the video, and I am embedding that video below.
I like this video because you will hear from a S2-T pilot, Jimmy Ferreira about what is like to fly fires in an S2T. You will also learn about the Cal Fire program. While there are going to be differences between Cal Fire's S2T's and other tankers, Jimmy does give me an idea of what it is like to fly fires. Enjoy!
Fire towers and their lookouts are a vanishing breed, as regular readers know we have a fire towers around New Jersey. A September 15th article on NPR by Nathan Rott, "A Fire Lookout On What's Lost in a Transition to Technology" caught my eye this morning. The article is about Phillip Connors who has been a fire lookout in the Gila National Forest for 17 summers. Phillip is also an author, having written three books, two of them based on his experiences as a fire lookout. I just got his first book, Fire Season, and look forward to reading it.
Gila National Forest has ten fire lookouts. Hikers who pass his way often ask him about satellites and drones, this is how he responded to that question in Rott's article.
'I often feel I'm in a position of having to defend my very existence here,' he says. 'People just sort of assume that the technology has advanced to a point where it would make me totally obsolete'
There are, he says, many things he can do that a drone can't. He can sit in a tower for an entire day, watching and studying a fire's behavior. He can serve as eyes and as a communication link for fire crews working in the region's rugged terrain. He can apply his experience to put a fire in context and communicate about it in ways only a human can.
'At $14 and change an hour, I'm also pretty cheap,' he says.
In addition to getting to know Connor, you will also learn a little about the history of fire towers. I encourage you to spend a few minutes reading the article, there are some very nice images in the article, including some historic photos.
I continue to reflect upon the devastation left by Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas. I am especially interested in the use of aviation assets to bring relief into the Bahamas. I will share four videos that I found on Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) about Hurricane Dorian Response.
US Navy MH-53 delivers supplies to the Bahamas
US Army CH-47 Chinook transports vehicles and supplies to US Aide Workers
US Navy Sailors aboard a CH-53 Sea Stallion helping with Dorian relief in the Bahamas
Eighteen years ago, I was in my office in central New Jersey when the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon occurred. All of us who were old enough to remember will always remember where we were and what we were doing when the attacks occurred. I, like many others, were at work. At the time, I worked in central New Jersey. I could swear that I saw a couple of fighter jets overhead. We all have memories of that day, mine are probably not much different from yours, although geography may make a difference.
I ask you to join me in a moment of silent remembrance for those who died in the attacks on September 11, 2001. Let us also remember all the first responders who died later as well as those who are suffering severe physical and emotional trauma. Finally, there are those either lived or worked in Manhattan or Washington who survived the attacks yet may hold some emotional scars.
The deployment of NWS Incident Meteorologists (IMETs) have seen an uptick the last couple of weeks. When deployed to a wildfire, for up to two weeks, IMETs used good science to provide forecasts for the area burned by the wildfire and environs. As required, they will launch weather balloons (see the August 1st post by the NWS IMETs) on their Facebook page to watch a nice video of a balloon launch). Theu bring all the weather equipment they need to provide the latest forecasts. They do this to so that wildland firefighters and their support teams will be as safe as possible as they fight wildfires. IMETs are a national resources. While many but not all IMET deployments are in the western U.S. or in Alaska, if called upon they will come to your state to work a wildfire, IMETs have your back. For example, IMETs have been deployed to east coast states in recent years. Finally if you look at the information below the size of the wildfire varies from less than 500 acres to more than 160,000 acres.
I am sure that most of you know that Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas last weekend as a category 5 hurricane with winds up to 185 miles per hour. Dorian stalled over parts of the Bahamas for at least a day and a half before making its way up the east coast.
My purpose here and perhaps in subsequent posts on the devastation to the Bahamas from Hurricane Dorian is to focus on the use aviation assets to respond to the Bahamas. Yesterday )September 5th) while I was doing some errands, I heard an interview on NPR with Coast Guard Vice Adm. Scott Buschman about the Coast Guard's response in the Bahamas. I was not able to hear the entire interview, but I did find a link to a segment on NPR's All Things Considered, Thursday September 5th. I am embedding a link to this segment below. For those who prefer to go directly to the NPR All Things Considered Segment that may be found here.
According to Vice Admiral Buschman,
we have eight helicopters flying from the Coast Guard, two
flying from the DEA, two flying from Customs and Border Protection. We
also have a number of fixed-wing aircraft that were doing some aerial
reconnaissance to see what the impacted areas look like. And as of
today, we actually have three Coast Guard ships there. They're helping
out. They're serving as support cutters for our aircraft so the aircraft
can land there and fuel. And they're doing a number of things. They're
sending their boats ashore to do some assessments from land.
In the video that I embedded below (here is a direct link to the video from DVIDS), you will hear Petty Officer 3rd Class Jhonkirc, member assisting in the Hurricane Dorian relief efforts being interviewed about thee actual situation on the Abaco area Sept. 5, 2019. The Coast Guard is supporting the Bahamian National Emergency Management Agency and the Royal Bahamian Defense Force, who are leading search and rescue efforts in the Bahamas. The video is by Seaman Erik Villa Rodriguez.
In the next video you will see a Coast Guard crew being welcomed home at Air Station Clearwater. This crew was the first Coast Guard crew to be deployed to the Bahamas to aid in disaster relief in the Bahamas. Video by Petty Officer 2nd Class David Micallef. Go here for the direct link to the video from DVIDS
Finally, I am sharing a brief video report from ABC News about disaster relief in the Bahamas. ABC News sent a reporter and cameraperson who rode along on a flight by Trinity Air Ambulance to Freeport, Grand Bahama. You will see some footage from the first video.
I am taking a day off from my labors on this Labor Day in the United States. Having said that, I want to remember all the first responders including but not limited to wildland firefighters for either working today or being on call. Thanks all for all you do to keep us safe.
I would also like to thank all my friends at the various National Weather Service office for working today to keep us safe, especially those putting in extra time because of Hurricane Dorian.
As many of you know, Hurricane Dorian is gaining strength off of the coast of the United States. My purpose today is to write about the hurricane hunter aircraft flying into Hurricane Dorian, but first a few preliminaries. The image below is from the National Hurricane Center's web page, under the section for Hurricane Dorian. The National Hurricane Center (go here for their Facebook Page) is a good source of information about Hurricanes, but they do not provide location specific information. If you or a loved one lives in or near an area within striking distance of hurricane, you may go to the National Weather Service where you will see a map of the United states, click on the area you are interested in. You will then be taken to the local National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office for your region (and check their social media accounts as well), and you will be able to get location specific hurricane advisories, watches and warnings.
Hurricane hunter aircraft may be from NOAA, see the NOAA Hurricane Hunter Facebook Page or from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron of the 403rd Wing (Air Force Reserve). The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron has a nice facebook page: U.S. Air Force Reserve 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Hurricane Hunters. These hurricane hunters fly into hurricanes including multiple flights into the eye to provide crucial data that is then used by weather forecasting models, including those from the National Hurricane Center, for hurricane forecasts issued by the National Hurricane Center.
If you want to know about current and upcoming missions of either the NOAA or the 53rd Squadron's hurricane hunters, go to the webpage for aerial reconnaissance in the North Atlantic Basin, you will find information about reconnaissance mapping on that webpage (Google Earth requires downloading a KMZ file and Cesium does not appear to work in Firefox).
I close by sharing two videos where you may learn a little more about what the hurricane hunters do.
In the first video from ABC Action News (serving Polk County Florida and environs) you will see one of NOAA's hurricane hunters taking off on a mission. This video was uploaded on August 29th.
The second video (just over four minutes) is from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum with highlights of a hurricane hunter from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron flight, uploaded in April 2019. The video appears to be taken on a flight into Hurricane Florence in September 2018.
The wildfires that are currently burning in the Amazon have been making headlines in various news outlets so I expect that many of you reading this post know about these wildfires. I do want to spend a little time on these wildfires today. I don't know much about the actual size of the wildfires, nor can I say how many wildland firefighters on the ground and in the air are helping to fight these wildfires. But I do know that there is a lot of person power fighting these wildfires. Before going any further, I am not going to post any pictures because I understand, thanks to this post from Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today, that there are photos circulating claiming to be from the Amazon wildfires that are not of these wildfires.
I do know that the Global Supertanker (747 tanker) is currently working in Boliva, flying the Amazon fires in that country, see this August 22nd post from Bill Gabbert's Wildfire Today for more information. Here are three tweets with short videosof the Supertanker working in Bolivia:
Tweet #3 from ViVe TV (I learned of this tweet because of a retweet by Global Supertanker.
But there is some satellite imagery of these fires. Below is a satellite photo of the wildfires in Boliva, courtesy of Earth Observatory, for more information about this photo please go here where you can see an overlay with labels for the countries in South America. The image below, dated on or about August 27th, is an image from Landsat 8 courtesy of NASA's Earth Observatory
This past weekend was the Fair weekend in my parts: the annual County 4H and Agricultural Fair. This is always a fun time and I go every year, sometimes for more than one day. Yes, there are rides and games for the kids, bands and other entertainment, and the pleasure of watching the local $H clubs exhibit the projects they have worked on all you. Yes, there are shows for the various livestock, poultry and equine exhibitions. There is the tractor pull including a pedal tractor pull for the little ones on Saturday morning. I always enjoy the exhibit of antique tractors. I watched a couple of equine events, and visited the livestock and poultry tents.
But my favorite part this year was stopping by the New Jersey Forest Fire Service Table in one of the exhibition tents. I just missed Smokey Bear who paid a visit to celebrate his 75th anniversary. But I did get to chat with a New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) Wildland Firefighter from the section where I live. While I follow the NJFFS on various social media platforms, I rarely get a chance to have a conversation with a NJFFS firefighter in person. The best part was that he may live close to my town, at least he was intimately familiar with some of the open space in and adjacent to my town. More importantly, he knows the County where I live. He told me about the types of mostly smaller brush fires that they fight and how they work with the local volunteer fire companies, some whom have brush trucks. We talked about how his section will help fight larger wildfires in other parts of New Jersey.
It was nice to put a face to one of these fine NJFFS firefighters who fight fires in my town and county. But my biggest take away is that he and the rest of the NJFFS in my section have the backs of their residents. This is true across New Jersey, your NJFFS section has your back. If the call comes, they will be there fighting the brush fire so that I may be safe. And if it should happen that the small brush fire turns into something larger, they will have our backs. I knew that the NJFFS works with the Volunteer Fire Companies, some of whom have their own brush trucks.
I got to thank him for his service. I told him about this blog, and how much I care about the NJFFS.
So for all the New Jersey Forest Fire Service wildland firefighters, no matter where you are in New Jersey, this post is for you. I want to say thank-you for having our backs, in the large wildfires and the small brush fires. You are there. Thank-you from the bottom of my heart. Stay safe.
When I wrote about SEATS the other day (see my August 19th post), I did not specifically mention the Amphibious SEATS, namely Air Tractor's AT-802F Fire Boss (Fire Boss) Often, when I refer to SEATS in this blog, I am referring to both 800 gallon SEATs with conventional landing gear including but not limited to Air Tractor's 802F as well as the Fire Boss. Then of course, I should mention that there are SEATs with smaller tanks such as those manufactured by Thrush as well as Air Tractor (and others) that may be used in both agricultural and fire fighting operations.
Today I am specifically interested in the Fire Boss, the subject of this post. I do know that some of the contractors in the United States who have SEATs do have the Fire Boss in their fleet, but I do not know off hand which ones, nor do I know how many of the Call-When-Needed Contracts in the United States go to Fire Boss SEATS. I did want to have a blog post focusing on the Fire Boss, but was waiting to see some good video of them in action, especially scooping.
hanks to my friends at the NJFFS Section B10 Video of the Week (videos updated weekly) who recently shared a wonderful, but somewhat long (10 minutes) video of a group of three Fire Boss SEATs scooping water from Osooyos Lake in British Columbia, Canada while fighting the Richter Mountain Fire near Cawston British Columbia (see about this video in the link below). I did enjoy seeing this group of three Fire Boss SEATs, from Conair in Canada scooping as a group. (see this Conair page for more information on their Fire Boss fleet). I won't repeat the specs and other information here in this post, rather I will leave those of you who are interested in learning more to follow the links in this post. But I do want to mention that the tank capacity is 800 gallons and there is a separate foam tank to inject foam into the water prior to the drop.
Dip and drop,dip and drop, dip and drop.
Regular readers will know that I often think about helicopters, in part because of a friend who loved helicopters who died too soon. I think about the helicopters, not only Hueys but other similarly sized helicopters, that carry 500 gallon buckets. Many states have type 2 helicopters, perhaps under the Federal Excess Personal Property Program and Firefighter Property Program. Some of these helicopters might be smaller helicopters that are mainly used for observation, others might carry a 500 gallon bucket. Some firefighting helicopters use a tube that hangs from their belly to fill their tanks. However, my thoughts turn to these state helicopters with 300 to 500 gallon buckets, and the important work they can do helping wildland firefighters on the ground. Dip and drop, dip and drop, dip and drop. And on it goes. Dip and drop, dip and drop.
A water source close to the wildfire is very helpful, sometimes the water sources may be a small pond in a golf course or even a swimming pool. A helo dipping at a water body provides photo opportunities, but their work is so much more. These water sources for dipping, especially if they are close can mean that the helos and buckets can do a lot of drops. These drops can be an important part of initial attack. The helo crews communicate with the crews on the ground so they know where the drop is needed, and of course there is the skill of the pilots to know how to drop so the water/foam ends up at just the right spot. Perhaps the supervisor of a crew will ask for a drop where they are working, you will fly there and make the drop. Dip and drop, dip and drop.
I am not quite sure of the size of the bucket, 500 gallon or smaller, in the video below, but that doesn't really matter as she and her pilot did good work to help the crews on the ground in Hawaii put out a grass fire.
I don’t want to forget the National Guard or Air Force Reserve helicopters, often Blackhawks that have a larger bucket. Dip and drop, dip and drop, dip and drop. Your larger bucket means more water/foam on the fire. Whether you are called up to help out with a larger wildfire or perhaps work a smaller wildfire where there are not enough existing resources, your service is appreciated. Like your smaller cousins, your crew communicates with the wildland firefighters on the ground so you know where your drop is needed. Dip and drop, dip and drop.
To the helos with buckets and their crew, I want you to know that I know you are there, no matter where you are flying. I know that you are there all the times that there may be no cameras recording your operations. The crews on the ground and those living near the wildfire appreciate you and so do I. Thank-you for your service. Your work can be dangerous and I know your pilots take precautions to stay safe.
I have not forgotten about the great work that SEATs do in flying wildfires to help out the wildland firefighters on the ground. While their retardant tanks only hold 800 gallons, they are small and can use smaller landing strips then the larger air tankers. I have no specific information about the contractual situation for SEATs in 2019. I believe that the last two years that all SEATs were on call when needed contracts with no SEATs on exclusive use contracts.. However, I do know from video footage and media reports that SEATs have been flying this season. See for example, see this short video, courtesy of InciWeb shared by the NWS IMETs on their Facebook page of a seat flying the Tucker Fire in California earlier this year. KTXS 12 ABC has an August 15th news report with video of a SEAT based at the tanker base in Abilene Texas. Finally there is a nice video report from KREM2 CBS out of Spokane Washington where a SEAT pilot shows us his cockpit controls, go here for this August 15th report from KREM2.
Before you go take a look at these two very short videos of SEATs dropping on a wildfire. The first video is from 2010, showing a SEAT dropping on a wildfire in Idaho.
I want to write a little more about how GOES East and West are used to detect wildfires. Some of you may recall that I wrote about how NWS Incident Meteorologists uses GOES East and West on May 3rd where I interview Robyn Heffernan, NWS Science and Dissemination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service National Fire Weather Program Office. Perhaps you want to pause and take a few moments to read my interview with Robyn.
I have been wanting to follow up on that May 3rd article on how GOES East and West are used to detect wildfires. Thanks to my friends at the NWS IMET Office for sharing a great video from GOES 17 (GOES West) showing smoke from the Williams fire on their Facebook Page. I have not been able to find this video on Youtube, so I hope you check out the Facebook post from the NWS IMETs to see this great GOES West imagery.
Here are a couple of videos from NOAA Satellites on Youtube with smoke and wildifre detection imagery.
I followed the link in the NWS IMET Facebook page sharing GOES West imagery of the Williams Fire and found some great information on how GOES East and West (also known as the GOES-R series of satellites is use for fire detections. What strikes both about the IMET post is that they mentioned that they can use GOES East and West to detect wildfires from their office. Of course, NWS Forecast Offices have the capability to utilize GOES East and West for wildfire detection as do IMETs in the field. Please take a moment to go and read this short two-page article on using the GOES-R series for fire detection. I'd like to quote from this report about the benefits of GOES-R applications for fire detection:
New ABI channels provide more information to forecasters and improved resolution and rapid scanning deliver high-definition images as often as every minute. This means a much more detailed look at fire conditions, faster detection of hot spots, and the ability to track fire progression and spread in real time to detect changes in a fire’s behavior and predict a fire’s motion. GOES-R Series satellites frequently detect fires before they are spotted on the ground – often before emergency notifications to 911. The satellites are also used to pinpoint the exact location of a fire after reports of smoke.
GOES-R Series observations are not just valuable for detecting wildfires but are also critical to observing and monitoring smoke from those fires. The ability to monitor smoke plumes in near real-time is particularly useful in directing firefighting efforts from the air. Deploying airplanes and helicopters to spray fire retardant is often hampered due to poor visibility. GOES-R satellites can help guide decisions for deploying flights by providing information on the exact location and motion of smoke from a fire. The smoke detection and monitoring information also enable better air quality forecasts.
Finally if you want to learn a little more about how GOES West (GOES 17) is used for wildfire detection, please see this August 12th twitter post from the NWS Houston retweeted by NWS IMET Operations and take the time to explore the seven tweets from the NWS Houston with different types of GOES 17 wildfire detection imagery.
