Neptune Aviation’s Tanker 10. Photo courtesy of Colorado DFPC.
A large air tanker is on an exclusive use (EU) contract with the state of Colorado. The state’s Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC) has arranged for Neptune Aviation to station one of their BAe-146’s in the state this summer. The 120-day contract began June 24 and the aircraft was dispatched that day to its first fire, the Muddy Slide Fire 22 miles south of Steamboat Springs.
The signing of Senate Bill 21-049 earlier this year provided funds for a State-contracted large air tanker, a Type 1 helicopter, and increased the number of days existing DFPC Single Engine Air Tankers and helicopters are under contract. The legislation also provides additional funding and resources so that DFPC can better support fire departments and counties during the early stages of a wildfire.
The DFPC adopted the recent policy of the U.S. Forest Service, only making the contract valid for one year, with the possibility of four additional one-year periods.
The BAe-146 can hold up to 3,000 gallons of retardant but may have to reduce the loads on hot days in the higher elevations of Colorado.
The aircraft will hosted at Jeffco Air Tanker Base, a US Forest Service facility in Broomfield at the Rocky Mountain Regional Airport. There are five bases in Colorado that can support large air tankers: Durango, Grand Junction, Jeffco, Pueblo, and Colorado Springs.
In 2020 the DFPC had a 75-day EU contract for Air Tanker 23, a P-3 Orion operated by Airstrike. The choice of the aircraft came as no surprise since it was already under a call when needed arrangement with the state.
House of Representatives Science, Space, and Technology Committee hearing, June 29, 2021.
In a hearing Tuesday before the House of Representatives Science, Space, and Technology Committee the topic was “The state of federal wildland fire science: examining opportunities for further research and coordination.” And just as promised, many topics were recommended for additional development and research.
There were four witnesses:
Dr. Craig B. Clements, San Jose State University
Dr. Jessica McCarty, Miami University
George Geissler, Washington DNR
Fire Chief Erik Litzenberg (Ret), International Association of Fire Chiefs
If you don’t have two and a half hours to watch the video below of the entire hearing, you can watch the prepared five-minute presentations of the four witnesses and get a good idea of the topics that were discussed. They begin at 26:30.
I made a list of the topics that were mentioned as needing more research:
Better systems for fire detection and modeling.
Systems for tracking the real time location of firefighters and other resources.
Increase the budget for the Joint Fire Science Program, which was cut in half during the last four years.
Fire weather.
Deploy on fires what would be the equivalent of hurricane hunter aircraft for real time monitoring of fires and weather at fires.
Treat fire weather the same as other severe weather phenomena.
Continuous real time high resolution imagery of fires.
Operational community-based coupled fire atmosphere models.
Better geospatial and temporal resolution for monitoring fires.
Improved and standardized warning system for fires.
If you would like to see another point of view, check out a July 1 interview with Mark Finney by Saul Elbein in The Hill. Mr. Finney is a Research Forester with the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. Early in the piece Mr. Finney said more prescribed fire was needed.
Here is an excerpt from the article:
Equilibrium: What do you feel is missing from an approach centered on suppressing big fires?
Finney: The issue is, reactive management rarely works. My analogy is health care — if all health care was emergency rooms and ambulances, you’d have a health care disaster on your hands.
Because there’d be no preventive care. You’d have ambulances everywhere, people getting rushed off. But by the time you have emergency care, it’s too late.
People get engaged in looking for better satellites or mapping or sensors thinking: If we get better at reacting, we’ll solve the problem.
But that’s not true. If nature picks the time, place and conditions to start a fire, and you run around and deal — then you’re a moron. You’re just playing defense. You can’t win any contest by playing defense.
File photo of a Sikorsky 70A operated by Firehawk Helicopters working on the Rankin Fire in South Dakota September 13, 2017. Photo by Bill Gabbert.
The families have released the names of the four people killed in the May 25 crash of a helicopter operated by Firehawk Helicopters at Leesburg, Florida. Below is their entire statement issued by the company.
In cooperation with the families involved in the devastating tragedy that occurred on May 25, 2021 and took the lives of three of our team members and the life of a team member from Trotter Controls it has been agreed that now is an appropriate time to name and honor the individuals. Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers during this difficult time and the company ask’s that you continue to support and respect the families as they grieve through this devastating loss.
Andrew Gray 35 years of age of Inverness, FL originally from Helena, Montana. Andrew had been with the team for 3 years and was a Captain in the UH-60/S-70 Black Hawk and had fought fire for 3 years in the US and 1 season in Australia during the devastating fires in the country during the 2019/2020 fire season. Andrew was a veteran of the United States Army and had served as a Black Hawk pilot during the conflict in Afghanistan and was a rated Instructor Pilot. Andrew is survived by his wife Brianne and Mother and Father, Sister and two Brothers. The family wishes for donations to be made to in his honor to the gofundme at the following web address: https://gofund.me/cffce598
Caleb Kupersmith 30 years of age of Boise, ID originally from Coquille, Oregon. Caleb had been with the team for 4 years and was a Captain in the UH-60/S-70 Black Hawk as well as a qualified and skilled short haul pilot in the Airbus H125 Astar helicopter. Caleb had worked 4 fire seasons in the US with the company and 2 seasons in Australia during the 2018/2019 fire season and the terrible fires that ravaged that country during the 2019/2020 season. Caleb had worked from Hawaii to Alaska and all over the US during his career. He was a rated flight instructor and had worked extensively on many fires and incidents both in the Black Hawk and the Astar. Caleb is survived by his Mother and Father and 2 brothers and 2 sisters.
Robert Ray 37 years of age of Highland, TX and originally from Tyler, Texas. Robert worked with Trotter Controls as a Senior Controls engineer in support of Trotter’s firefighting equipment that is installed in both airplanes and helicopters all around the globe. Robert is survived by his wife Misty and his 3 children and his Mother, Father and Sister. The family wishes for donations to be made to the Wildland Firefighter foundation in his honor.
Ryan Ritchea 35 years of age of Ventura, CA and originally from Nuevo, California. Ryan had been with the team for 5 years and was a Captain in the UH-60/S-70 Black Hawk as well as a qualified and skilled short haul pilot in the Airbus H125 Astar helicopter. Ryan had worked 5 fire seasons in the US with the company and 2 fire seasons in Australia during 2018/2019 and the unprecedented 2019/2020 Australian fire season. Ryan had worked through out the United States and Alaska during his career including in the Grand Canyon. He was a rated flight instructor and had worked a broad range of fires and incidents both in the Black Hawk and the Astar. Ryan is survived by his Mother, Father, Brother and Grandmother. The family
(end of statement)
From the preliminary report issued by the National Transportation Safety Board it appears that the cause of the crash was the snorkel hose swinging violently and contacting the main rotor blades while a new snorkel system was being tested at the Leesburg airport.
As we enter what are usually two of the busiest months of the wildland fire season in the West, the forecast for wildland fire potential issued July 1 by the National Interagency Fire Center predicts that California and virtually the entire northwest one-quarter of the United States will have above normal fire potential in July and August.
The data from NIFC shown here represents the cumulative forecasts of the ten Geographic Area Predictive Services Units and the National Predictive Services Unit.
Below:
An excerpt from the NIFC narrative report for the next several months;
Additional NIFC monthly graphical outlooks;
NOAA’s three-month temperature and precipitation forecasts;
Drought Monitor;
Keetch-Byram Drought Index.
“Drought expanded and intensified over the West with more than 90% of the West now in drought. More than half of the West is in the highest two categories of drought. Numerous all-time record high temperatures were set in the Pacific Northwest, northern Great Basin, and Northern Rockies at the end of June as part of a historical heat wave. The first surge of monsoonal moisture arrived in the Southwest, Colorado, and southern Great Basin during the last few days of June.
“Climate outlooks indicate warmer than normal conditions are likely for much of the CONUS, especially the West, through summer. Much of the Rockies and the northern half of the West are also likely to have drier than normal conditions through September. Near normal precipitation is likely with the Southwest Monsoon in July, which should help alleviate drought conditions and significant fire activity, but drought is likely to expand and intensify across much of the West through the summer.
“Much of the Southern Area is likely to have below normal significant fire potential through the summer with mostly near normal significant fire potential in Eastern Area and Alaska into fall. Above normal significant fire potential is likely to remain in portions of northern Minnesota into August.
“Above normal significant fire potential will expand northward into the Great Basin and Rocky Mountain Geographic Areas through August with areas closer to the monsoon likely returning to near normal significant fire potential in July and August. Most of the Pacific Northwest, Northern Rockies, and northern Great Basin are expected to have above normal significant fire potential in July and August with areas beginning to return to normal significant fire potential in September and October. Most of the mountains and foothills in California are forecast to have above normal significant fire potential through September with areas prone to offshore winds retaining above normal potential through October. Leeside locations, saddles, and divides in Hawaii are likely to have above normal significant fire potential into October.”
Outlook for precipitation and temperature July, August, and September. Made June 17, 2021. NOAA.
