Contents

Home

Firestorm '01

 

Photos and story by CW4 David Rosenthal

Two 126th Med Co Black Hawks on standby at Alturas

The 126th Teams Up with CDF to Fight Wildfires

Our August Drill quickly transitioned from routine mountain training to emergency services as the call came down for aircraft to support firefighting activities throughout the state.

For several years now, the 126th Med Company has trained directly with California Department of Forestry (CDF) and U. S. Department of Forestry firefighting personnel in a coordinated program to ensure fast, efficient response when a fire emergency arises.  

Painting the roof Within just a few minutes of receiving the notification, crews were busy applying special high-visibility, water-soluble Tempera paint to the aircraft.

Making the tailboom more visible

Pre-positioned CDF "Fly-away" kits, containing critical items for Military Helicopter Managers, like frequency listings, flight helmets, and emergency fire shelters were loaded, along with the high-volume "Bambi" (a brand name) buckets we carry to drop water.

Soon, we were on our way.

The first stop for our crew was Redding where we met with our Agency Aviation Military Liaisons and Helicopter Fire Managers to discuss the plan of attack. Getting a briefing with CDF Fire Managers at Redding airport

Then it was on to the fire.

The smoke plume seen from about 40 miles away

Seen from about 40 miles away, the smoke plume can be pretty impressive.  The arrow at the very top points to what firefighters call a "header."  This is water vapor in the smoke condensing into clouds that eventually spawn thunderstorms whose lighting starts more fires.

Seen close up, the plume is even more impressive.  Sometimes the fires are so vast (this one covered about 60,000 acres at the time) that you can't imagine any human efforts impacting it.

 A 126th Black Hawk on its way to the fire
Early morning briefing at Alturas airport In Alturas, we had a morning briefing and everyone, including the civilian helicopter operators dove into the action. A civilian bucket operator with a VERY long long-line
Once on-scene, the procedure is relatively straightforward:  you locate a dip-site adequate to fill your underslung bucket and, in coordination with your on-board CDF Military Helicopter Manager and the orbiting Air Attack aircraft or folks on the ground... Dipping water from a river at the fire's edge
About 100 feet above the fire ...you start putting water on the fire.

And yes, it is a bit intense and stressful but, to have any real impact, there's no real substitute for getting "up close and personal" with the flames and smoke.  Your webmaster's experience this year was a bit different than last since most of our drops occurred in fires in more open terrain rather than the steep, high-altitude rocky cliffs we saw then.

The only common denominator is the fact that, regardless of whether you're an aircrewmember or a firefighter, you find a long day in this business exhausting. Napping or collapsed? Hard to tell.

So that's it for now.  At this writing (late August), we still have crews out fighting fires and just got a request for more.  Stay tuned for additional developments.

Back to the Contents page.