Burns & Bugs

By PAUL M. ROSS, JR.
All photos courtesy Redding Smokejumpers

During the past few years, smokejumpers from Redding, Calif., have provided a "booster" load of smokejumpers to Southern California wildfires, and this year's fire season was no different. Don Sand, base manager for the Redding Smokejumpers, told Wildland Firefighter that his unit's first fire jumps of the 2005 season were on the San Bernardino and Sierra national forests. The area has a substantial amount of bug-killed timber, meaning high fire potential. "We had a load of 10 smokejumpers operating from the San Bernardino Airtanker Base to assist with fires in the San Bernardino Mountains in July and August," Sand says. "They jumped three fires on the San Bernardino and two on the Sierra. Jumper 51, our Shorts Sherpa jump plane, has been working with the crew in the south."

In the off season, Redding Smokejumpers
practice their tree-climbing skills nationwide
in search of beetle infestations.

The Redding Smokejumpers have 44 aerial firefighters on their 2005 roster, five of which are rookie smokejumpers: two are from hotshot crews in the Southwest, one is a firefighter on the Shasta Trinity National Forest, one is from the Mendocino Hotshots and one rookie is participating in a training assignment from Southern California's Angeles National Forest.

In addition to its Shorts Sherpa, which can fly 10 smokejumpers to a remote fire, the Redding base contracts with Indiana-based Rhoades Aviation for a turbo-prop Douglas DC-3. The "Doug" can transport 18 jumpers and their cargo for fire jump missions.

"We also sent smokejumpers to the Sacramento, Calif., area in June to climb trees to attempt to locate a potential Asian Longhorned Beetle infestation," Sand says. "A report of the beetles arriving in the area from a shipping yard prompted the request for our assistance."

Jumpers learn how to scale trees to retrieve parachutes following a fire jump into heavily wooded areas, but in the off-season, smokejumpers practice their tree-climbing skills nationwide in search of such insect infestations. Over the winter, the Redding jumpers put their specialized training to use, climbing trees in New York City's Central Park in an effort to prevent the spread of the damaging pests on the east coast.

Back at their base, Sand thinks activity will pick up now, during the fall months. "Like most of the United States, Northern California [was] slow in August, so we sent folks down south," Sand explains. "Traditionally, July is hot and clear here without much lightning. It's finally warming and drying in the northern part of the state, so it looks like we might get busier. We've had a smattering of fires up here. I don't think you can count any areas of the Northwest out yet. The potential is there for fires into October and even November."

Phoenix Fire & Police Acquire Agusta 109E

Last summer, a new helicopter serving the Phoenix, Ariz., area enhanced aerial public safety operations. The Phoenix police and fire departments acquired an Agusta 109E helicopter in June to expand firefighting and rescue operations in the desert metroplex, significantly enhancing aircrews' performance, according to Phoenix Police Chief Pilot Phil Tilford. "We are very pleased to begin operating this aircraft," Tilford says. "Our extreme temperatures and high density altitudes [DA] have always been a challenge for our smaller ships; the 109E was designed for operating in these DAs and such performance, among the many other features of the Power [109E], should benefit us significantly."

Rather than purchasing two helicopters with different specifications, fire and police personnel worked cooperatively to find a craft that would meet the needs of both departments and best serve the citizens of Phoenix. The cooperation is evident in the lettering on the aircraft: One side reads "Phoenix Fire/Police," while the opposite side reads "Police/Fire Departments."

Tilford told Wildland Firefighter they evaluated many helicopters, including the MD902 Explorer, the Bell 407 and 412 as well as the EC135 and EC145. "The 109E has a wide lateral CG [center of gravity], and that's another major reason [why] we chose it," he explains. "Since we wanted the ability to perform hoist rescues, the lack of skid tubes means that the CG stays closer to the fuselage during the hoist." Tilford says the ship's hoist capabilities build on more than 20 years of aerial delivery/extraction operations. The Phoenix air unit began rappelling from its turbine aircraft in 1981, then moved into short-haul operations, but the single-engine helicopters' capabilities limited effectiveness when crews faced weather and altitude extremes.

With increased wildfire activity this past summer, Tilford and firefighters welcomed the larger aerial water-delivery capability of their new 109E. "The ship utilizes either a 144- or 180-gallon Bambi Bucket, much larger than those of our single-engine ships, so we can make a better impact on fires," Tilford says. "And the belly hook is on a frame installed beneath the ship matched to a load cell also. There is no VNE [velocity not to exceed] restriction, so we leave the hook and frame mounted to the aircraft for all operations-[so] we are that much more ready for bucket or external load missions."

The ship is instrument-flight (IFR) capable and features an external 600-lb. capacity hoist, an infrared camera system, three searchlights with 18-million candlepower, rappel brackets for police tactical team insertion, a digital video microwave downlink, a night-vision compatible cockpit and many other features.

Continuing a long history of cooperative efforts, police and fire department personnel work side by side during fire and rescue flights. All pilots are line police officers with rescuers provided by the fire department. "Our firefighters have all the technical expertise in technical rescue, emergency medical and advanced life support ops," Tilford explains. "And our [police department] air unit has operated aircraft for 32 years, working with the fire department for 20 of those years, so it's a really good partnership."

"Over the years, hundreds of firefighters have been trained through our cooperative system, and we currently maintain approximately 150 tactical rescue team members," Tilford continues. "These personnel are all helicopter operations trained and certified in our system."

Officials unveiled the helicopter at a ceremony in mid-June at Phoenix's Deer Valley Airport. The ship performed a search and rescue [SAR] mission for a missing elderly woman shortly thereafter. Although unable to locate the victim, Tilford liked the ergonomics of the 109E for the mission profile. "We did our first SAR mission with the ship and put the doors back for best search visibility," he explains. "The increased cabin [size] meant more sets of eyes during the search flight, which should benefit us going forward." Initially, the new 109E will operate solely for fire/rescue and tactical law-enforcement missions while the air unit's single-engine MD500s and MD520Ns will continue to serve as patrol aircraft.

During the 2005 wildfire season, the Redding
Smokejumpers provided a “booster” load of jumpers
to areas in Southern California, including the San
Bernardino and Sierra national forests.

American Helicopter Association Changes Name

Aerial firefighting companies have a new association focused on the operations of helicopter and fixed-wing firms involved in the annual assault on wildfires. Last summer, the American Helicopter Association renamed itself the American Helicopter Services and Aerial Firefighters Association (AHSAFA). According to an Associated Press release, the purpose of the reorganization was to form an association that represents a larger portion of the aerial firefighting industry, including the interests of companies operating helicopters, large airtankers and single-engine airtankers involved in aerial firefighting and other aviation services. Originally founded in 1998 to represent the interests of commercial helicopter operators, the newly expanded association's stated goals are to promote, foster and advance the common interests and welfare of aerial firefighting companies.

"The aerial firefighting industry plays a critical role in protecting our nation's private and public lands from the threat of wildfire," says Tom Eversole, AHSAFA executive director. "The change in our name and mission reflects a desire by our members to represent the interests of all commercial aviation companies involved in aerial firefighting, as well as helicopter companies engaged in a variety of aircraft services."

Eversole says the AHSAFA will promote services that directly benefit member operations and advance the commercial aerial firefighting industry, and it will promote programs that enhance aircraft safety and maintenance standards, and increase public awareness of aerial firefighting operations. The association will also provide information to members regarding policies, directives, regulations, requirements and contract provisions for various federal, state and local government agencies, and encourage government policies and directives that promote good business practices and allow member companies to grow and operate profitably.

Former Aerial Firefighting Industry Association (AFIA) Executive Director Bill Broadwell stated that the new association is made up of solid members of the aviation community. "As you will notice, the membership already includes some of the companies that were members of the AFIA, which is now in an inactive status," he says. "We are hoping to gain several other companies in the near future. Entry into AHSAFA is tightly controlled. Only those companies with the highest standards of performance, conduct and customer relations will be allowed to join."

Members of the AHSAFA include Air Tractor Inc., Basler Turbo Conversions LLC, Butler Aircraft Company, Columbia Helicopters Inc., Construction Helicopters Inc., Erickson Air-Crane Inc., Evergreen Helicopters Inc., Heavy Lift Helicopters Inc., Helicopter Express Inc., Hillcrest Aircraft Company, Hillsboro Aviation Inc., Intermountain Helicopters Inc., Lane Aviation Inc. and Neptune Aviation Services Inc.

Updates on Fire Aviation Folks . . .

Former Vietnamese Air Force Captain Tuan Nguyen has spent more than two decades fighting U.S. wildfires from the air, amassing over 17,000 flight hours since leaving his homeland of Vietnam in 1975. He currently flies a Bell 205A1++ helicopter for Renton's (Wash.) World Wind Helicopters, providing rappel and fire-attack operations for the Wenatchee (Wash.) Rappellers. Longtime friend and co-worker Glenn Pearson serves as his fuel truck driver, and Aaron Young handles mechanic duties on their aircraft, which bears the call sign "5 Whiskey Whiskey" for its N205WW tail number. The skies were far from smooth flying for Nguyen while on his way to a commercial helicopter pilot career in the U.S. Nguyen began flying Sikorsky H-34 and Bell UH-1D "Huey" helicopters in the late 1960s during the Vietnam War.  In 1975, following evacuation of the U.S. Embassy and collapse of the South Vietnamese government, he flew a Huey helicopter to his home and evacuated friends and family to safety. "With Saigon falling, I knew I needed to get my family and friends out, so I loaded 26 people on an H-model Huey and flew toward a South Vietnamese-held island off the coast," recalls Nguyen. "With that load, I over-torqued [a term for pushing a helicopter beyond its stated performance parameters] the aircraft real badly, but we had to make it out. I flew slowly out over the ocean-it was quite a distance, but my fellow pilots already on Conson Island helped guide me in. There was not much fuel on board when I landed, but we made it." "Quite a few helicopter crews were ditching in the ocean and died doing so," adds Nguyen. "I took my family to Thailand after leaving Vietnam, and then the United Methodist Church in Puyallup, Wash., sponsored us to come to the U.S." After Nguyen worked in a pickle factory and warehouse and mowing lawns, a friend helped him with the process of obtaining a pilot's license. "I taught myself vertical reference once I started flying again in 1977," Nguyen explains. "I was doing longline/external load work hauling cedar blocks for a lumber company in the Northwest. In 1983, I got into firefighting with Glacier Helicopters, flying a Soloy." Following Glacier, Nguyen flew briefly for Carson Helicopters before flying fire contracts for Rogers Helicopters with Southern California's Ramona Helitack, as well as a rappel contract with a B-2 AStar in Grants Pass, Ore. He continues to enjoy his job in the Wenatchee area and travels nationally each summer with the Wenatchee Rappellers. "Helicopter firefighting is quite a challenge," Nguyen says. "I like the people in the business and find it rewarding work." Quick with a laugh, his favorite pastime when on fire standby is playing a Chinese card game known as Pai Gow while sharing jokes and stories of various life experiences. When times are slow, you'll find yourself fortunate to be around Tuan Nguyen on a fire assignment-laughter is good for the soul.

Send your Fire Aviation News via phone or e-mail to Paul M. Ross, Jr., Wildland Firefighter Magazine, at 208/861-1340 or prossjr@yahoo.com.

Paul M. Ross, Jr. is a firefighter/EMT/helitack squad leader and professional writer with 14 years of experience in both Western U.S. wildland firefighting and urban fire-rescue. He lives in St. Louis, Mo., where he is a firefighter/EMT for the Eureka Fire Protection District. Contact him at prossjr@yahoo.com.