In the video, Trevor Hughes of USA Today goes for a ride in one of Colorado’s two new Pilatus PC-12 “Multi-Mission” aircraft. They will be used for detecting and mapping fires, sending images to the cell phones of personnel on the ground, and helping to enhance the situational awareness for firefighters.
Colorado agencies train for aerial firefighting
Agencies involved in aerial firefighting in the Colorado area are meeting and training together on Friday and Saturday of this week at Buckley Air force Base in Aurora. Friday’s sessions were indoors, focusing on procedures, communications, and the academic side of fighting fires from the air.
On Saturday they will take to the air working with the equipment they will use on a fire. The Blackhawk helicopters will be visible after 9 or 10 a.m. near Chatfield and Strontia Springs Reservoirs and Waterton Canyon.
The agencies involved include the Colorado Army National Guard 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment, U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Region, Bureau of Land Management, and Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control. The National Guard also worked with active duty Army aviation units from Ft. Carson, Wyoming, Nebraska, and South Dakota.
Colorado’s Multi-mission Aircraft
On the next page, click on the link to see images from a presentation about Colorado’s new Multi-mission Aircraft, (Pilatus PC-12) including how it will assist firefighters on the ground, and a description of the state’s Wildfire Information Management System.
Colorado shows off new multi-mission aircraft
The state of Colorado is showing off their two recently purchased multi-mission, high-tech, single-engine, fixed wing aircraft that can be used in a variety of roles for fighting and managing wildfires. The Colorado Firefighting Air Corp, working under the Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC), bought two Pilatus PC-12 airplanes configured and outfitted by the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC).
The aircraft have three sensors, one for infrared and two for color. They can map wildfires and detect a campfire from 30 to 45 miles away.
Last July we asked DFPC Director Paul Cooke how the aircraft will be used. He replied:
When presented to the Governor and Legislature other potential uses of the multi-mission aircraft were discussed, including:
• Transportation of critical medical personnel, supplies, and equipment
• Insect damage and forest assessments for the Colorado State Forest Service
• Office of Emergency Management: disaster assessments/reconnaissance
• Department of Mineral and Geology: mine assessment/compliance
• Dam safety and inspections
• Environmental monitoring and compliance
• Search and rescue missions
• Avalanche controlVIP and prisoner transport are performed by the Colorado State Patrol.
The aircraft will be Part 135 Certified and we expect they will also be ATGS platform carded. However, it will not perform Lead Plane functions and it is not currently planned to serve as an ASM.
We last wrote about the aircraft in September when the agency acquired one on a temporary basis.
Video from Colorado’s multi-mission aircraft
The image above is a screen grab from a video of very raw footage from the loaner multi-mission fixed wing aircraft that the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control (CDFPC) is using until the two aircraft they purchased are delivered by December 1. The video includes visual and infrared images shot from the aircraft on several missions they have been flying since it was delivered a few weeks ago.
We can’t embed the video (which was advertised by the CDFPC on Twitter) but you can see it at YouTube. Unless you really enjoy seeing an aircraft sitting on the tarmac with the prop spinning, you can skip the first minute. The title of the video indicates that it is a work in progress; there is quite a bit of duplication.
Today the Department held another press conference to introduce the aircraft.
Colorado’s multi-mission aircraft is in service
The state of Colorado has a temporary version of their multi-mission aircraft officially in service while the two they purchased are being outfitted and configured. It is being operated and maintained by Bode Aviation under contract to Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC). Until the Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC) personnel have completed their training, SNC will be providing qualified “Sensor Operators.
The aircraft and crew are currently in Alert Status “Yellow” which requires a one-hour wheels up time from notification and approval of the mission. The duty schedule for the flight crew is 0800-2000 daily until October 31, 2014.
While its primary mission is early detection and persistent surveillance of wildfires, other public safety missions needing airborne Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) Sensor technology will be flown upon request, subject to availability.
Colorado to buy two high-tech multi-mission aircraft for aerial firefighting
The state of Colorado is working on the final paperwork to purchase two multi-mission, high-tech, single-engine, fixed wing aircraft that can be used in a variety of roles for fighting and managing wildfires. The Colorado Firefighting Air Corp, working under the Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC), is buying two Pilatus PC-12 airplanes that will be configured and outfitted by the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) which is expected to receive the contract to provide and operate the PC-12s.
While the purchase contract is being finalized and the two aircraft are being configured to Colorado’s specifications, one loner PC-12 is being prepared which should be available in Colorado around August 15.
Ralph Pollitt, the vice president of business development for SNC’s Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance division, said:
The PC-12 is an ideal multi-mission platform to support the State of Colorado’s firefighting efforts this year. The aircraft is affordable, fast, can stay airborne for a long time, and can be operated from almost any airfield. The suite of sensors and communications equipment provides a capability that can greatly improve the firefighter safety and efficiency in handling an incident.
We asked DFPC Director Paul Cooke about the role of the PC-12s. Besides collecting intelligence about fires, what other roles will they fill, such serving as a Lead Plane or Aerial Supervision Module? Will they be used for non-fire tasks, such as transporting VIPs, cargo, or prisoners? He replied:
When presented to the Governor and Legislature other potential uses of the multi-mission aircraft were discussed, including:
• Transportation of critical medical personnel, supplies, and equipment
• Insect damage and forest assessments for the Colorado State Forest Service
• Office of Emergency Management: disaster assessments/reconnaissance
• Department of Mineral and Geology: mine assessment/compliance
• Dam safety and inspections
• Environmental monitoring and compliance
• Search and rescue missions
• Avalanche controlVIP and prisoner transport are performed by the Colorado State Patrol.
The aircraft will be Part 135 Certified and we expect they will also be ATGS platform carded. However, it will not perform Lead Plane functions and it is not currently planned to serve as an ASM.
According to the Pilatus Corporation, the PC-12 has a maximum cruise speed of 280 KTAS, a maximum operating altitude of 30,000 feet, and a stall speed (MTOW) of 67 KIAS. The U.S. Air Force has been using a variant of the PC-12, the U-28A, for intra-theater support of special operations forces, but they will be replacing them with King Airs.
SNC is not a mom and pop operation, but is multi-billion dollar corporation involved in high-tech electronics, engineering, and manufacturing ventures. One of their most visible projects is the “Dream Chaser”, one of the vehicles that will replace the Space Shuttle. It will launch on a rocket, dock with the International Space Station or perform other tasks in space, and then land on any 8,000-foot runway. The video below shows a Dream Chaser being lifted by an Air-Crane helicopter and then dropped to test its landing capabilities. Unfortunately, the video stops just before the aircraft skidded off the runway and landed sideways when its left landing gear failed to deploy at the last second during touchdown on runway 22L at Edwards Air Force Base in California. SNC said they were going to be able to repair the ship.
A suite of advanced sensors and technology is being installed in the Colorado PC-12s that will enable the aircraft to detect and map wildfires. Additionally, the aircraft will have a communications system that allows the air crew to send collected information to all wildfire response personnel using the Colorado Wildfire Information Management System (CO-WIMS).
CO-WIMS, developed by SNC’s team member, Intterra, Inc. of Castle Rock, Colorado, is a web-based collaborative information sharing tool that allows any firefighter immediate access to fire location, fire behavior, and other critical pieces of information. CO-WIMS is accessible from tablets, computers, and smartphones and is built specifically to address the needs of the wildfire response personnel. This appears to be a significant step toward the Holy Grail of Firefighter Safety we have written about at Wildfire Today, which would provide real time information about the location of firefighters AND the location of the fire.
In 2012 Ryan Maye Handy wrote an excellent article for the Colorado Springs Gazette for which she interviewed a co-founder of Intterra, David Blankinship, who at that time was working on a high-tech intelligence gathering system for the National Interagency Fire Center. Here is an excerpt:
From any computer or smart phone, Blankinship can access the software with a password, and it opens a world of cost charts, topographical maps and resource lists for fires in any region in the United States. He relies on satellite images provided by Digital Globe, a satellite imagining company, to track fire behavior. During the Waldo Canyon fire, for instance, the satellites took images of the fire every morning at 11 a.m., giving Blankinship updates on fire growth that weren’t reliant on an infrared NIROPS flight, which can only capture images at night.
Blankinship describes the software as “cutting edge” for the fire service — very different from a less tech-oriented “boots on the ground” fire fighting approach.
“It’s a geeky thing but it’s revolutionary,” he said.
Newcomers to the fire world — anyone who has been in the business for less than 10 years — are favoring more technology in fire fighting, Blankinship said.
“If you’ve been around for longer than that you’re a ground pounder, and looking at things on the back of a truck,” Blankinship said.
The DFPC has also awarded contracts for three firefighting helicopters.
SNC’s Dream Chaser: