Fire Aviation

North Australia and Rangelands Fire Information - NAFI, current fires at 10 November 2026.

November 10, 2026 / 1 minute

New federal support for Australian bushfire preparation

A long-awaited funding support for a vital bushfire information service across northern and remote Australia has been included in an Australian Government $12 million package to boost bushfire preparations ahead of a predicted active fire season across the southern states. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a series of measures

September 20, 2026 / 4 minutes

How drones can better integrate with total incident response

By Usama Mehboob Wildfire drone operations have moved beyond the question of whether an unmanned aircraft can find heat or provide an overhead view. The harder problem is fitting another aircraft and another stream of data into an incident that may already involve helicopters, air tankers, lead planes, ground crews

September 10, 2026 / 2 minutes

Avincis boosts its European fleet with five 214ST helicopters

Europe’s largest aerial firefighting operator Avincis will get five of the newly modified 214ST helicopters from Australia’s McDermott Aviation. At the tail end of a demanding European wildfire season, Avincis has signed a Letter of Intention for five of the McDermott 214ST medium-lift twin-turbine helicopters, scheduled for a 2028 delivery.

August 27, 2026 / 1 minute

Details of fatal firefighter helicopter crash during Colorado’s Gold Mountain Fire revealed

The first investigation report into a helicopter crash that left a pilot dead during Colorado’s Gold Mountain Fire on July 12 was released by the National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday. The pilot, 56-year-old Nicholas Dale of Sooke, British Columbia, was the only person on board the Kaman K-1200 when