Wildfire Today

Helicopter operators gearing up for the 2012 wildfire season

Bill GabbertJanuary 25, 2012January 25, 2012Uncategorizedhelicopter1 Comment

The following was released on PRWeb by the American Helicopter Services & Aerial Firefighting Association (AHSAFA), a Washington-based trade association representing commercial operators of helicopters and fixed wing aircraft engaged in aerial wildland firefighting. It is a good update on the status of four companies that provide helicopters for wildland fire management, Erickson, Columbia, Intermountain, and Rogers.

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Aerial Firefighters Gearing Up For The 2012 Wildland Forest Fire Season

Helicopter operators specializing in aerial firefighting are anticipating an early start to the 2012 wildland fire season.

Washington, DC (PRWEB) January 25, 2012

“With near record lows in rainfall, combined with record high temperatures in much of California in December–plus ongoing dry conditions throughout much of the Southwest–the aerial firefighters are preparing for an earlier than normal deployment of assets, given the prevailing high fire dangers, especially in those parts of the country,” said Tom Eversole, Executive Director of the American Helicopter Services and Aerial Firefighting Association (AHSAFA) in Washington.

“For us, the 2011 fire season never really went away,” noted Dan Sweet, Public Relations Manager for Columbia Helicopters in Portland, Oregon. “For instance, we have had a Columbia Helicopters Vertol 107-II in Big Spring, Texas, since March of last year, and expect to keep that helicopter there for the immediate future.” Sweet noted that Columbia performs heavy maintenance, as well as pilot training during the winter months. This year, 15-20 pilots will be assigned to four of the company’s aircraft–three Columbia Helicopters Vertol 107-II’s, and one Columbia Helicopters Model 234 Chinook–which will be operated under US Forest Service (USFS) exclusive-use contracts for firefighting. That is the same number operated for the USFS in 2011. Concurrently, 30-40 field maintenance crews are undergoing training.

Portland/Central Point Oregon based Erickson Air-Crane has yet to see a break in activity pertaining to the fire season on a global level. Currently the company holds 5 contracted locations in Australia between the Central, Southern and Eastern portions. In December a 6th location was requested by the Fire Authorities for Erickson to provide an S-64 Helitanker for Western Australia operating out of Perth. Half of these will return to the United States and the other half will be shipped to Greece under contract with the Greek fire authorities. San Diego Gas and Electric requested an addition S-64 in August to augment its power line construction and fire standby through the middle of January 2012 for the greater San Diego City and County areas. Erickson is also gearing up for the U.S. fire season with 6 S-64’s under exclusive use contracts with the U.S. Forest Service with 2 additional aircraft assigned to the city of Los Angeles, CA. Erickson Air-Crane will be operating 16 of their own aircraft and providing maintenance and crewing for up to 5 additional customer owned S-64’s.

Intermountain Helicopters of Sonora, California is also getting ready for an active fire season through an aggressive maintenance program on its Bell 212 and Bell 412 twin engine helicopters, according to Rick Livingston, Director of Operations. Currently, Intermountain Helicopters has a six person staff, which includes four pilots and three mechanics, some of whom are cross-trained to fly and maintain the aircraft. “All annual inspections are done prior to the fire season, in order to avoid component failure in the field during mid-season,” Livingston noted. “That’s why, when a component is within about 100 hours of change out, we’ll do it immediately, rather than let it go to the life limit, and risk a failure in the field. We have a very proactive, preventative maintenance program, not just for the helicopters, but the fuel trucks, and maintenance trailers that go out with them.”

Fresno, California-based Rogers Helicopters’ Vice-President Robin Rogers reported the company, which operates a mixed fleet of 11 single and twin-engine helicopters, has two Bell 212s and one Eurocopter A-star helicopter, along with a fixed wing Turbo Commander aircraft, ready for dispatch. “In addition to annual aircraft scheduled maintenance checks, our staff of 25 mechanics also perform annual inspections of our support equipment, which includes a combination of 30 fuel trucks, and maintenance trailers,” said Rogers. “We also inspect all of the equipment that needs to be aboard each aircraft, by contract, such as the Bambi buckets, and long lines.” Recurrent and upgrade pilot training is also done concurrently with the maintenance period. Right now, Rogers Helicopters employs 40 pilots, of which 22 are full time. As with maintenance, all pilot training is done in-house. “Our training is pretty standardized, because there is really no way to predict the severity of the fire season until it happens,” said Rogers. “If history is any indication, you would usually see fire activity in California and the Southwest in the March or April time frame. But with the current dry conditions and the Santa Ana winds, a wildfire could break out any time.”

Columbia Helicopters, Erickson Air-Crane, Intermountain Helicopters, and Rogers Helicopters are members of the American Helicopter Services & Aerial Firefighting Association (AHSAFA), the Washington-based trade association representing commercial operators of helicopters and fixed wing aircraft engaged in aerial wildland firefighting.

Thanks go out to Dick

Conair to convert a jet into an air tanker

Bill GabbertJanuary 25, 2012August 25, 2019Uncategorizedair tanker15 Comments

Conair RJ85 Airtanker impression — An artist's conception of Conair's British Aerospace Avro RJ85 air tanker. Image from Conair.

A Canadian air tanker company, Conair, has announced that they have purchased a jet-powered airliner and will be converting it into a Type 1 3,000-gallon air tanker. The aircraft is an Avro RJ85, which is a variant of a British Aerospace BAe-146. The difference is that the RJ85 has a longer fuselage and more efficient engines. The RJ85 seats up to 112 passengers as an airliner. Neptune leased a converted BAe-146 from Tronos and obtained “interim” approval from the Interagency Air Tanker Board in late 2011. In November and December it saw some limited use in Texas and California.

Judging from the artist’s conception of the planned air tanker conversion, it will have an internal tank, rather than a bolt-on external tank. Conair will be doing the actual conversion at their base at Abbotsford in British Columbia, Canada, but they have not announced if it will have a conventional constant-flow gravity tank or a pressurized tank. They expect to have the new 3,000-gallon air tanker ready for the 2013 fire season.

The RJ85 that Conair purchased in December is serial number E2270. It was previously operated by Lufthansa and was delivered in December, 1995. Here is a link to photos of the aircraft when it was flying for Lufthansa.

Below is an excerpt from a Conair news release:

We have undertaken a detailed evaluation of both the BAe 146 and Avro RJ85 including simulator and flight testing of the aircraft in the demanding low-level profile required in fire-fighting missions. It is important to note that we are working closely with BAE Systems as the Original Equipment Manufacturer. As a later variant of the BAe 146, the Avro RJ85 is a younger aircraft which will give longer life, and with its higher design weights and better ‘hot and high’ performance it will be a more suitable aircraft for these demanding missions.

With the improved performance of the RJ85 coupled with what we believe to be a game-changing tank design, the RJ85 Airtanker will offer a significant improved mission capability compared to existing, new and proposed aircraft including the BAe 146-200.

Conair operates a boatload of air tankers, including 10 CV580s and 17 single engine air tankers. Several of their CV580 air tankers saw service in the United States during the last part of the 2011 fire season after the U.S. Forest Service cancelled Aero Union’s contract for their eight P3 air tankers over a dispute about inspections.

Unfilled air tanker orders increased in 2011

Bill GabbertJanuary 25, 2012March 3, 2018Uncategorizedair tanker, statistics, UTF2 Comments

The number of unfilled orders for large air tankers increased to 29.8 percent in 2011, while the number of air tankers that were available on contract fell. In 2010 there were 19 large air tankers on exclusive use contracts and the unable to fill (UTF) rate was 15 percent.

In 2011 the number of air tankers decreased to 11 in July after the U.S. Forest Service cancelled their contract with Aero Union saying certain aircraft inspections were not completed. Aero Union, now in the process of selling their assets, is appealing the USFS allegations. Neptune brought on one additional air tanker, a leased BAe-146, in November on an “interim” approval basis.

The higher UTF rate is at least partially due to a busy fire season in the southwest, compared to the slower years of 2009 and 2010. The number of acres burned in the lower 49 states in 2011, which excludes Alaska, was 8.4 million, exceeding the average of 5.1 million between 2000 and 2011.

Acres burned wildfire US 2000-2011 — Acres burned in wildfires in lower 49 states, US 2000-2011. Data from NIFC.

While the data about UTF rates is difficult to interpret, perhaps we can be safe in saying that if more than 4,000,000 acres burn in the lower 49 states, having 21 or fewer large air tankers tends to result in 25-30% of the air tanker orders being UTF, which is about triple the UTF rate when fewer acres burn. In 2000 with 40 air tankers on contract, 6,600,000 acres burned, and the UTF rate was 7%.

You have to wonder how often incident commanders do not place orders for needed air tankers if they already know that none are available.

UPDATE at 9:00 p.m. MT, January 25, 2012:

We received an email from Scott and we asked him if we could post what he wrote. Here it is:

You wrote “You have to wonder how often incident commanders do not place orders for needed air tankers if they already know that none are available.” This statement is hauntingly similiar to those found in John McLean’s “Fire on the Mountain”, where the author reported airtankers were not ordered during early phase of South Canyon Fire because of assumption “none were available”. The Lesson Learned was don’t assume. Place the orders, justify the need, and push for priority. Still may not get AT, but you tried. Obviously, the reduction in total number AT is ominous for the future. Thanks for keeping it on the front burner.

Followup on the Washoe fire: 1 fatality, 29 burned structures

Bill GabbertJanuary 22, 2012April 10, 2019UncategorizedNevada, Washoe Fire

Firefighters have contained the Washoe fire south of Reno, Nevada, thanks to the efforts of firefighters, diminishing winds, and eventually two inches of rain that fell in the area. More accurate surveys and mapping have shown that the final size is 3,177 acres and that 29 structures burned.

An elderly man admitted accidentally starting fire by tossing out fireplace ashes that were still hot. Officials said he contacted them on his own and that he was “remorseful”.

The person that died during the fire has been identified as June Hargis, 93, who was living the studio apartment of her daughter, Jeannie M. Watts. Ms. Watts told the Reno Gazette-Journal that she was getting rehab for a shoulder she injured in an automobile accident when someone told her about a fire that was burning near her house.

Meanwhile, Ms. Watts younger brother, Jim Blueberg, also heard about the fire and tried to drive to his mother’s apartment to help her evacuate, but was turned away at checkpoints. He called her and told her to leave, but she decided to stay. She walked out the front door and told her son that she smelled smoke but didn’t see any fire. What she didn’t know was that the fire was approaching from the back side of the apartment.

Ms. Watts and her husband rushed back home from the rehab center but were stopped at road blocks. Eventually, after explaining about her mother who was in the apartment, they were allowed through but had to detour around areas that were on fire. When they arrived at her house they saw the burned out studio apartment, the burned horse barn, and her home that was starting to burn. She asked a firefighter if her mother made it out of the apartment. He went over and looked and said she did not make it out.

The official cause of death of Ms. Hargis will not be determined until an autopsy is performed, but earlier officials said they believed it to be “smoke inhalation”.

Our sincere condolences go out to the family of Ms. Hargis.

Photos and video of the Washoe fire

Bill GabbertJanuary 20, 2012April 10, 2019UncategorizedNevada, Washoe Fire

Gary Pearl, of Gary Pearl Photography sent us these photos and the video below. Thanks Gary. The images are of the Washoe fire south of Reno, Nevada which burned about 4,000 acres and approximately 26 structures on January 19. We covered the fire HERE.

Thousands evacuate from Washoe fire south of Reno

Bill GabbertJanuary 19, 2012April 10, 2019UncategorizedNevada, Washoe Fire2 Comments

10:35 a.m. PT, January 20, 2012

The Western Great Basin Coordination Center reported at 9:30 a.m. that the Washoe fire has burned approximately 4,000 acres and is 50% contained The Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center web site which was updated at 9:30 this morning says 3,766 acres have burned.. At least 26 homes have been destroyed, according to the WGBCC. Highway 395 remains closed due to guard rail and other damage. Washam’s Type 3 incident management team assumed command at 6:00 a.m. today. Approximately 2,000 people are still without power due to downed power lines.

This is the second major fire for the Reno area in the last two months. On November 18 the Caughlin fire burned 1,847 acres and caused the evacuation of 10,000 residents on the southwest side of the city. It was also mopped up by a snowfall a day or two after the primary spread of the fire. The Caughlin fire destroyed 15 structures and damaged 40 others.

Here is some very impressive video footage that shows how the very strong winds, gusting up to 82 mph, made the Washoe fire extremely difficult to control.

5:55 a.m. PT, January 20, 2012

The Washoe fire south of Reno, Nevada is 50 percent contained and the spread has been stopped, according to Reno Fire Batallion chief, Tim Spencer. Approximately 27 homes have burned but 800 homes were saved in the East Lake area. There has been one fatality but no information has been released about the circumstances or the identity of the person. An estimated 3,700 acres have burned.

Highway 395 is still closed. Some firefighting resources en route from California were turned around in Donner pass due to the weather and chain controls.

There are reports that 6,000 to 10,000 people were forced to evacuate. Some of those have been allowed to return, reducing the number to 2,000.

Below is an updated map posted by Washoe County. It shows the fire size at 7:20 p.m. January 19 to be 2,000 acres. A larger version of the map can be downloaded HERE (large 3.5 Mb .pdf file). The lake at the bottom of the map is Little Washoe Lake. The red highway running roughly north and south is US 395. RGJ.com produced an easier to read map that shows the evacuation areas.

Washoe_fire_map_1920_1-19-2011 — Map showing the estimated perimeter of the Washoe fire, produced by Washoe County at 7:20 p.m. January 19.

RGJ.com has a gallery of photos of the fire. Many of them are excellent.

The National Weather Service predicts that the winds Friday morning will be southwest 10 mph. The wind will increase to 17-31 with gusts up to 49 in the late afternoon, but the chance of rain will increase throughout the afternoon, topping out at 99 percent by 4 p.m. PT. The rain should change to about 1 inch of snow early Saturday morning.

Because of the growing fire, Vice President Joe Biden was forced to cut short a speech he was making Thursday afternoon at a high school in Reno.

6:32 p.m. PT, January 19, 2011

At noon on Thursday a wildfire started north of Washoe Lake, between Reno and Lake Tahoe about 25 miles south of Reno. According to the Western Great Basin Coordination Center (WGBCC) at 5:54 p.m. PT, the fire had burned 3,000 acres, was zero percent contained, and “1,000 structures have been impacted”. They also report that Washam’s Type 3 Incident Management Team is being mobilized for the fire, named Washoe.
Continue reading “Thousands evacuate from Washoe fire south of Reno”

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