Robert Martinez was kind enough to send us some photos he took yesterday, August 27, at Columbia Airport (map) a few miles north of Sonora, California. Army UH-60 Blackhawks and Air Guard HH-60 Pave Hawks had arrived to be briefed and refueled before they were sent on to the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park, about 10 miles southeast of the airport.
The military has been supplying numerous photos and some videos of their firefighting activities on the Black Forest Fire. Helicopters from the Colorado National Guard and Fort Carson as well as C-130 MAFFS air tankers are assisting firefighters on the ground. Here are one photo of aircraft taken on June 12 by military personnel. The DC-10 is not military, but is working under a contract with the U. S. Forest Service. Other photos of the military aircraft are on Wildfire Today.
First Lt. Alicia Tigges, the officer in command of Echo Company 2-4, General Support Aviation Battalion/Distribution Platoon from Fort Carson Army Base, talks to a crew member from the National Guard Black Hawk helicopter at the Forward Area Refueling Point on the U.S. Air Force Academy Airfield in Colorado Springs, Colo. Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters are fighting forest fires in the Black Forest area, just north of Colorado Springs, Colo., June 12, 2013. (U.S. Air Force photo by Ray McCoy/”Released”)The Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs is being used as a forward refueling point for the military helicopters working on the Black Forest Fire on the outskirts of the city. The helicopters being used are Chinooks, Lakotas, and Black Hawks.
The 2010 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill passed by the Senate included an earmark of $4,160,00 for fixed belly tanks for National Guard Blackhawk helicopters. It was referred to as the Recoil UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter R60 Wildland Fire-Fighting Tank System. When we covered that on October 7, 2009 at Wildfire Today that is all we knew about the project. But a little more information has emerged. It appears that the tank in these photos may be what was funded in the legislation passed by the Senate.
The photos are from the web site of SHG, a company in Israel that deals in fire suppression equipment. They represent the manufacturer of the tanks, Recoil Suppression Systems, in Merlin, Oregon. SHG also represents Caylym, the outfit that is trying to sell the boxes that when filled with water or retardant would be dumped out of the back of a C-130 or other cargo plane, hopefully slowing the spread of a wildfire.
SHG describes the Blackhawk tank:
A circular-framed retractable suppressant tank that attaches to the airframe at the cargo hook point. The electric operating mechanism is located within the helicopter itself, to operate by crew members. In addition, the system has a security mechanism for a rapid emptying in case of an emergency. The system is approved for use in urban areas. The tank volume is 3,800 liters [1,000 US gallons], and can contain all kinds of water – fresh, brackish and salty water.
Messages we left with Recoil Suppression Systems asking for information were not immediately returned, and we were not able to find a web site for the company. Dunn and Bradstreet says the company has annual sales of $950,000 and has 17 employees. But we have no confirmation that any of the tanks were ever produced and sold.
At least one other company is working on a Blackhawk belly tank, Simplex.
