Fighting wildland fires can be a dangerous job. One of the most difficult challenges is providing treatment to an injured firefighter during that first “golden hour” if an accident occurs in a remote location.
The California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection is taking a step to speed the transfer of a patient from the fireline to a hospital by installing hoist systems on their 11 firefighting helicopters. They recently completed the first round of training on the new systems at the CAL FIRE academy at Ione. Some of the hoists have already been installed and all 11 should be ready to go by the end of the year.
This is a great step in the right direction and may save firefighters’ lives if they suffer an injury during daylight hours.
Currently there are no CAL FIRE or U.S. Forest Service helicopters that can fly at night. The USFS is going to tip toe into night flying operations again next year by contracting for one helicopter with that capability. It is unknown if it will have a hoist.
The USFS was criticized for not taking advantage of the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s night flying helicopters during the first night after the Station Fire started near Los Angeles in 2009. The fire was three to four acres at 7 a.m. on the second day, but no helicopters were used the first night. The fire took off at mid-morning on day two and later burned 160,000 acres, killing two firefighters.
There were accusations that the USFS employed a less than aggressive attack on the Station fire in an effort to save money. If that was their strategy, it failed. A GAO review estimated the cost of suppressing the Station Fire to be $93 million, placing it among the most costly fires in the nation’s history. This does not include the costs of rebuilding the 89 homes that burned in the fire which may have been another $15 to $35 million.
Thanks go out to Eric
You are right Helo Pilot
Ever since the USFS has this on again / off again issue of trying to reinvent the wheel to make ITS rounds in the all risk / all hazard world to make itself relevant.
I am sure the civilian operators (some) would love a crack at “something new” the USFS would be alllll over trying to make a program and rewrite another set of rules and regs and would likely involve a train of at least 15 additional personnnel hiding in DC or some Regional Office issuing dictums to the Contracting Office on what “new requirements” for types of hoists, probably some issues that someone like an IATB would have to spend two years proving a system that they know very little about.
Now , I do believe there will be numbers here that will dress me down from the USFS world. I believe in the CalFire mission because they have already been down this road due to the areas they are in.
Now I personally have been up n down some older hoists BITD and some hoist trainers when I attended some survival schools back in my early years in some volunteer organizations and later when I assisted others in installing units in my Army Guard and reserve daze..
Good Luck to the USFS in their ONE helicopter for the “night” program. I would believe that the extrication training be left to the professionals such as the hoist operators and EMT types that have been assigned to the program…. if the USFS some how “feels” left out of this program…welllll let’s get the LAT and VLAT organized before another program gets muddled up with mission creep…
Good on the Mil types and USCG on these missions……its a mission that can NOT be afforded to get screwed up.
CalFire has already proven itself with the Air Program…..USFS needs to prove itself more..after all it has been only 20+ yrs of talk to get a better airtanker program. When you or an operator has a life swinging from a cable and a hoist….it’s a whole new world and reality that ……like NVG’s….needs TRAINING, MONEY, and MORE TRAINING and even less managers who have never operated or swung from the underneath on hoist to start “managing” a new portion of an air program
My hats off to CalFire, HeloPilot and others in this realm of aviation…
Cal Fire adopted the National Park Service “short haul” (dynamic cert to 150 feet and static) program over a decade ago. It has been very successful. The winch is another good step forward as long as other agencies will make the call!
Why did it take so long? I’ve been involved with hoisting out folks years ago with USFS contracted ships.
In addition to C301 doing hoists, the remaining CAL FIRE copters (10) have been doing short haul, very effectively, for several years.
Kern County Fire in CA has been doing hoist rescues and night capable for several years now, and will be receiving a citation from the USFS for 3 medivac hoists performed this year on Northern CA fires this Monday, Oct. 29, at 1430 at the Keene Helibase. Congrats to the crews of both H408 and H407.
CALFIRE Helicopter 301, based in Hemet, has had the hoist system for about 3 years now. Riverside County paid for the hoist out of grant monies. Hel-301 has recently hosted training at their base for the other CALFIRE Helitack Crews and now they are going to the CALFIRE academy in Ione to teach other CALFIRE Helitack Crews in the operations of the hoist as well. This is a great opportunity for the seasonal fire fighters from Hemet (FF1’s) to show their skills as rescuers to the permanent training staff. The hoist is stored in the CALFIRE Helitack Support trucks when not needed.
Having the ability to remove the hoist from the helicopter when not needed to save weight is a key factor in CALFIRES decision to deploy the hoist to the Helitack crews. Set up only takes about 7-8 minutes with a full Helitack Base crew to assist in transforming the helicopter from firefighting to rescue mode.
For the 3 CALFIRE helicopters with simplex tanks, and rescues in high altitudes and a hot summer day, it has sometimes been necessary to drop the tank prior to heading out for the rescue, but this too is a fast process with a full crew on had to support that task.
One thing the Hemet crew has found out is most rescues can be done by something as simple as landing down the trail or a hover step, and that occasionally even a hoist rescue is not possible or safe due to the many variables involved in the setting of the rescue, such as location, wind and topography. But the ability to retrieve a victim and medic on scene into the helicopter and fly directly to a nearby hospital when in the best needs of the victim has proved invaluable in some incidents.
But the hoist is just an additional tool available for the injured fire fighter on a fire or the weekend warrior in California enjoying a bike ride or a hike somewhere. And at no charge to the victim as well.
Correction: C301 has been doing hoist rescues for at least six years now…
Junior… Rodger Dodger is correct. C301 started doing “short haul” rescues some time ago, but has only been equipped with a hoist for a little over 3 years.
Good move
At least they will have hoist inspection criteria. BUT watch….if the USFS gets into this they will writing the rules for civilian operators and even the military. Considering the requirements (which are waiverable) that require 1500 hrs on military pilots. Granted to parallel civilian on demand 135 operator reqs so they can call the operation safe or “safer” than civilian operators. Watch tho….. USFS will have some problem if an issue requiriing a hoist operation “over their Forest.” You just watch that develop over the FSM 5700 series. You can just bet it is going on at this very moment….”Oh NO CalFire is ahead of us? Oh No we “gots” to do something about this to protect even more turf…hhehehe.”
Good on CalFire for recognizing this problem ans solving it. Proving once again a great bunch of thinking for all risk all hazard and NOT just wildland fire….
what the heck? I fly for the coast guard and we’ve been hoisting at night on goggles for ever. All military branches do the same, its nothing special and USFS will not right any rules that effect military or anyone for that matter. Everyone BUT USFS has the capability and does it.