Chinook displays night-time skills for RFS

NSW RFS Chinook CH-47D. Photo: NSWRFS.

Australian firefighting moved a step closer to round the clock aerial operations with the NSW Rural Fire Service owned CH-47D Chinook helicopter successfully completing its first night-time waterbombing operations.

The aircraft was deployed last week to the Genowlan Road Fire at Glen Alice, burning north-west of Sydney, which burnt more than 230 hectares before being brought under control.

Over two days, the waterbombing helicopter delivered more than 529,000 litres of water including 194,800 litres across 27 drops during its night operations.

RFS Commissioner Trent Curtin said the milestone of the first operational nighttime deployment represents a significant advancement in the RFS’s aerial firefighting capability.

“Nighttime waterbombing operations allow us to take advantage of calmer, more favourable conditions when fire behaviour is typically at its lowest,” Commissioner Curtin said.

“Overnight weather patterns often see fire activity ease considerably, giving firefighters a critical window to strengthen containment lines and reduce the intensity of a fire before it potentially escalates again during the day.

“Carrying more than 10,000 litres of water or retardant, and with the ability to operate safely and effectively at night, the Chinook means we can better support ground crews, protect communities and make the most of every opportunity to suppress a fire.”

Night-time operations have been trialed and used sparingly operationally in several Australian states in recent years, mostly for data gathering but increasingly for suppression efforts.

The CH-47D Chinook is one of 13 RFS owned aircraft in New South Wales, supported by more than 200 aircraft through call-when-needed and contract arrangements.

Footage of the operation can be found here.

CAL FIRE conducts their first night-flying helicopter mission

CAL FIRE's first night-flying helicopter mission
CAL FIRE’s first night-flying helicopter mission was on the Electra Fire southeast of Jackson, CA July 6, 2022. Photo by CAL FIRE Battalion Chief Brian Ham.

Last night on the Electra Fire southeast of Jackson, California a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection helicopter conducted the first ever night-flying mission for the agency.

It happened with one of CAL FIRE’s new S70i Firehawk helicopters, and was confirmed in a tweet today by @CAL_FIRE:

CAL FIRE’s S70i Fire Hawk helicopter completed the first ever night flying operation last night on the #ElectraFire in Amador County. Flying at night provides further air time & allows CAL FIRE to continue to set new heights in serving the communities of CA.

@CAFireScanner was one of the first to notice the activity at about 10 p.m. on July 6. He noted that radar tracking showed Copter 101 was making repeated trips to Lake Tabeaud, and that it was up twice for a total of about three to four hours.

CAL FIRE Helicopter 101
File photo of CAL FIRE Helicopter 101 after it went through flight tests at United Rotorcraft in Colorado. Its home base was slated to be Howard Forest in Mendocino County, California. Photo by James Wattenburger, June 30, 2021.

Since wildfire activity typically slows during the night, any suppression activity by ground or air-based equipment and personnel can pay larger dividends than comparable efforts in the afternoon when fires are burning hotter and faster with more resistance to control.

Los Angeles County Fire Department has been fighting fires at night with helicopters for decades, and the US Forest Service has dabbled in the practice off and on. Several other firefighting agencies in the state also have night-flying capabilities. The four helicopters in Southern California’s Quick Reaction Force are staffed 24 hours a day and travel with a mobile fire retardant base to enable the ships to drop water or retardant day and night.

In January we wrote, “California is already two-thirds of the way toward replacing CAL FIRE’s 12 Vietnam War-era Huey helicopters with new Sikorsky S70i Firehawks. Eight of the new ships are already in the state, but some may not have been officially accepted yet by the contracting officers. Four more are still being built by Sikorsky or outfitted for firefighting by a company in Colorado.”

CAL FIRE is progressive in their firefighting capabilities in some ways, but their aviation program has been very slow to evolve. In addition to sticking with their their limited capacity Hueys for years, their fixed wing fleet of air tankers still consists of S-2Ts that drop up to 1,200 gallons, while large air tankers under contract with the US Forest Service carry three to eight times the amount of retardant. By 2023 they may begin to see the first of the seven former Coast Guard HC-130H planes beginning to complete the 10-year conversion to air tankers, with a 3,000-gallon capacity.

Orange County begins trial of night-flying, hover-filling helicopter

night-flying helicopter Australia
The S-61 snorkels from a dip tank in phase 2 of the night-flying trial in Australia. February, 2018. Coulson photo.

This month the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) is beginning a trial of a night-flying firefighting helicopter that can refill its collapsable external water tank while hovering. Thanks to a $4 million grant from Southern California Edison the OCFA has awarded a 150-day contract to Coulson Aviation for two helicopters that will be based at the Fullerton Municipal Airport northwest of Anaheim, California (map).

The one that will be most visible is an S-61 that can carry up to 1,000 gallons of water. As demonstrated during the recent bushfire season in Australia the Coulson helicopter can hover over a water tank at night and use a hose to refill the tank. Night-flying helicopters have been used in the United States since the 1970s to fight fires, but until a few months ago they always had to land to reload, with firefighters on the ground dragging hose, connecting it, pumping water into the tank, disconnecting, and moving out of the way as the helicopter takes off. Hover refilling is more time-efficient.

Firefighting at night can be more effective, since usually winds subside, relative humidity increases, and temperatures decrease, resulting in lower intensity and rates of spread.

Coulson's Sikorsky S-76
Coulson’s Sikorsky S-76, Helicopter 347, at Sacramento, March 20, 2014. Since then, the livery has changed. Photo by Bill Gabbert.

The second helicopter that is part of the trial is a Sikorsky S-76 that will work with the S-61 to provide intelligence, evaluate effectiveness, and identify targets with a laser designator. In Australia the S-76 orbited approximately 1,000 feet above the S-61 and used a GPS controlled illuminated laser pointer to inform the water dropping helicopter where to drop the loads. The S-61 is fitted with night vision goggles but also has twin adjustable Night Suns on the landing gear along with the helicopter searchlights.

The two helicopters will be staffed 24/7 and will be available to all regions serviced by Southern California Edison including Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.

Orange County’s regular helicopter fleet consists of two Super Hueys and two Bell 412ep ships, and has been using night-flying helicopters for years.

The video below shows an Orange County night-flying drill, uploaded to Vimeo July 8, 2019.