On Saturday we attended the open house commemorating 50 years of service by the Custer, South Dakota helitack crew.

The hangar at Custer

There were quite a few people there. More than they expected.

Cooking brats and hot dogs

They had to make an emergency run to pick up an additional two dozen brats and buns.

Boeing Vertol 107

The Type 1 helicopter got a lot of attention.

Boeing Vertol 107

Boeing Vertol 107

The local Custer helicopter arrived late to the party after being assigned to a local fire.

Custer helicopter

There were people at the open house that worked on the helitack crew decades ago. For example, Dave Sisk was on the crew around 1972 and drove over from Cody, Wyoming.

Beginning in approximately 2000 the helitack crew became interagency, supported not only by the U. S. Forest Service, but also by the National Park Service and possibly other agencies as well.