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Class of 2006: Boise rookies jump into the fire season

Story and Photos by Paul M. Ross, Jr.

Upon completion of rookie school, the class of 2006 found itself thrown onto the jump list right away, with assignments throughout the West and Alaska.

The Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Boise/Great Basin Smokejumper program added nine rookie jumpers to its roster in late May. Based at Boise, Idaho's National Interagency Fire Center, the new aerial firefighters come from a variety of backgrounds. Class members include Jenny Camp, Sam Dearstyne, Steve Frugoli, Brandyn Harvey, Shaun Jensen, Erik Newell, German Rodriguez, Shaylor Sorensen and Joe Wyatt. 

Rookies participate in five weeks of intensive physical and aviation training to become qualified smokejumpers. According to Deputy Base Manager Eric Reynolds, the first week of training consists of field operations and physical fitness evaluations. Candidates must complete testing of basic firefighting skills as well as a GPS course, hiking with a 40-lb. "cubie" of water, chainsaw and line pack. In the first week, rookies learn tree-climbing skills and must successfully finish a three-mile, flat terrain hike with a 110-lb. pack in less than 90 minutes. Sustained line digging operations are also thrown into the mix as attendees work on local prescribed fire units; jumper candidates simulate a rescue as well, performing a litter carry over hilly terrain. At the end of the first week, rookies take the interagency pack test, then complete a 24-mile run back to Boise from Idaho City. "That last run is actually a morale booster," Reynolds says. "We take a break in the middle and then take it on into town.

"The first week [of training] is where the majority of people may wash out," Reynolds continues. "But we really try to hire carefully to find the best-prepared candidates; most rookies complete the training." This year, two candidates failed to successfully finish rookie training, leaving nine in the final class.

Following the initial week of training, smokejumper ground school, or "units," begins, where students learn about jump equipment and perform simulated jumps and parachute malfunction operations from the training tower. As weeks progress, rookies take to the skies with the goal of completing 20 training parachute jumps with the DC-7 ram air parachute. According to Reynolds, this is the same chute utilized by U.S. military special operations units for their high-altitude, low-opening (HALO) jumps. New jumpers must demonstrate proficiency descending into open desert terrain, open ridges and heavy timber. All the while, rookies engage in twice-a-day physical training.

The Boise Smokejumper rookies of 2006. Back row (left to right): Brandyn Harvey, Erik Newell, Shaun Jensen, Joe Wyatt, German Rodriguez, Shaylor Sorensen, Jenny Camp.  Front row: Steve Frugoli (left) and Sam Dearstyne.

Upon completion of rookie school, the class of 2006 found itself thrown onto the jump list right away, with assignments throughout the West and Alaska. The early part of the fire season proved nearly nonstop for rookies and veterans alike as significant jump activity occurred in late June and July, given the many fires in the Great Basin. "The rookies got busy right away," Reynolds says. "Several of them have had as many as seven fire jumps. Jenny Camp just got back [from a fire where she] had four fire jumps in one week."

Smokejumper operations are taking place from "spike," or temporary, BLM smokejumper bases throughout the West, including Cedar City, Utah; Battle Mountain, Ely and Carson City, Nev.; and Grand Junction, Colo. "We really haven't seen a run like this since 2000; we're jumping out [sending out all available jumpers] every day on new fires," Reynolds says. "U.S. Forest Service jumpers are boosting our staffing as well; we frequently work side by side like this throughout the smokejumper system."

More information on the Boise Smokejumpers can be found at www.fire.blm.gov/smokejumper/ or by calling 208/387-5426.

Nonstop in Nevada
Nevada firefighters did not need a calendar to tell them the summer fire season had arrived in late June. A weather disturbance sent bands of dry thunderstorms across the state in the week following the official start of summer, igniting hundreds of fires. In the first week of summer, more than 133,000 acres of range and timber burned. Heavy grass and brush fuel loads combined with high winds meant long hours for air units, including smokejumpers, airtankers and helitack crews.

Fire Captain Rick Nunez, serving as an air support group supervisor for Don Garwood's Type II incident management team (California Team 3), saw miles of fire in northern Nevada with aviation resources stretched thin. "The lightning has been very heavy, with red flag warnings [lasting] several days," Nunez says. "I drove in and saw 10 miles of fire front and mandatory evacuations in the Carson City area, given the big concentrations of fine fuels. Challenges we've been facing include a lack of aviation staffing; so much activity and not enough personnel. And of course, the new starts take priority for resources." 

On the Elko BLM District's 79,000-acre Suzie Fire, Nunez worked with heavy airtankers and single-engine airtankers (SEATs) as well as a UH60 Blackhawk from the Nevada National Guard. Heavy and medium helicopters from Croman, Kachina and other copter companies also worked the fire.

Neptune Logs Constant Activity; Adds to Fleet
Wildland Firefighter recently caught up with one of the longtime heavy airtanker providers, Missoula, Mont.-based Neptune Inc., which reports nearly constant fire operations this year. Director of Aviation Safety and Neptune pilot Chris Holm says the company's Lockheed P2V Neptune airtankers had little rest in the winter; as a result, the firm is adding three aircraft to its fleet. "This is the first time in my career we've gone essentially year-round. We re-deployed December 28 to Ardmore, Okla., and Fort Smith, Ark., and [we] saw heavy activity in those areas from January on," Holm says. "The areas hit by the hurricane had significant areas of downed trees, which really added to fire danger."

As winter turned to spring, Neptune tankers 44, 10, 12, 07 and 06 logged heavy flight hours responding to wildfires throughout Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida and North Carolina. "We're up several hundred percent in annual flight hours as a result of the southern activity, and [we] have several aircraft over 100 hours for the year," Holm says.

Neptune will deploy three additional P2Vs this year, increasing the fleet to 10 airtankers. "The additional aircraft will be available nationally and will help us begin the monumental job of rotating the rest of the fleet through Missoula for maintenance,"  Holm says. Tankers 05 and 45 were scheduled to be available in July.

As spring turned to summer, aircraft moved into the Southwest, then the Great Basin, with pilots facing ever-present challenges. "Down in New Mexico and Arizona, we were seeing a lot of turbulence, making for challenging flying. That's the typical fire weather conditions we deal with each season," Holm says. By early July, the majority of Neptune aircraft had shifted to operating from tanker bases in Grand Junction, Colo.; Cedar City, Utah; and Battle Mountain, Nev.

An advocate of aggressive aerial fire response, Holm would like to see heavy airtankers utilized in a fashion similar to the BLM's Aerial Task Force concept (see "A Force to Reckon With," Wildland Firefighter, June 2006, p. 43). "Given the limited air assets in the system, why not operate as effectively as possible?" he says. "Let's hit the fires aggressively, take the heat out and move on to the next IA [initial attack]."

Croman SH-3H heavy helicopters are the only heavy helicopters with internal suppressant tanks for firefighting.

Croman Copters Add Internal Water Tanks
Oregon's Croman Corporation recently added internal water tank systems to its fleet of firefighting Sikorsky SH-3H heavy helicopters. A longtime logging, utility and fire operator, Croman has equipped the former U.S. Navy copters with two 500-gallon tanks that allow the ships to carry up to 1,000 gallons of water, retardant or foam mix. The Croman aircraft are the only firefighting copters to have internal rather than externally mounted suppressant tanks.

Fire officials dispatched the newly modified Croman copters to help fight this winter's Texas and Oklahoma fires. "We were fortunate to be assigned to help in these areas," says Croman's Operations Manager Brian Beattie. "Prior to that, our aircraft also spent 30 days in the Jackson, Miss., area following the hurricanes."

Beattie said the new system utilizes the port on the underside of the fuselage where the naval radar or "radome" had been mounted. Suppressant flows down through a chute; the resulting head pressure and twin tanks make the internal tank system capable of multiple and sequential drops with varying coverage levels from 0.5 to 8 and suppressant line drop lengths of up to 2,500 feet. The SH-3H can deliver high-flow drops for penetration into the forest canopy or low-flow sequential drops for low-fire-fuel situations.

A cockpit panel provides the pilot with control of the tank system and ability to select flow rate and tank drop configuration prior to arrival at the drop point. Selection of both or individual tanks allows for partial drops. Additionally, the pilot can select "sequence" to allow sequential dropping of both tanks, providing extended suppressant line length on the ground. Partial drops can also be accomplished by closing the tank doors by simply releasing the dump switch. Foam injection from the 65-gallon foam tank is also controlled on the cockpit panel.

A hydraulically driven pump is used to fill the tanks while hovering over a water source. The snorkel system mounts on the left side of the fuselage behind the landing gear and a 6" diameter reinforced hose hangs approximately 18 feet below the aircraft. Croman says its advanced 2,000-gpm snorkel reduces fill time to as little as 40 seconds and is effective in as little as 18 inches of water. The pilot can monitor the tank quantity as the tanks are filled, allowing for maximum use of payload on each fill.

Beattie says the Interagency Tanker Board has reviewed the flow performance of the tank system and found it in compliance with board requirements; the tank is also FAA certified. "We're very proud of this system and its abilities," he says.

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.

Updates on Fire Aviation Folks . . . Pilot Don Gheen literally had a blast as he fought his first fires across the West many years ago. Now flying an EMS helicopter for Boise, Idaho-based St. Alphonsus Life Flight, the Ohio native spent his early civilian flying years supporting seismic work in the Rocky Mountains, where blasting occasionally triggered fires. "We always had a bucket with us; sometimes the explosives started fires in the woods," Gheen recalls.  His aviation experience began in 1966 flying private planes. In the early 1970s, Gheen served in the U.S. Marine Corps, piloting Huey and Cobra helicopters as well as larger CH-46 Sea Knights and CH-53 Sea Stallions. Over the years, Gheen has logged more than 9,000 flight hours in 10 different types of helicopters. Eleven years of his fire and utility flying occurred at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory northwest of Pocatello, piloting Bell 222s and 412s with external belly tanks, fighting frequent range fires and performing utility flights.  Gheen began call-when-needed (CWN) work in 1996 and worked for a variety of firms, including Vancouver Island Helicopters, Western Airways and Crew Concepts. In 1997 and 1998, he flew Bell L-3s and L-4s for Mountain Rotors, flying fire/rescue missions with Wyoming's Bridger Teton Helitack and Grand Teton National Park. "The fire environment was good," Gheen says. "I liked flying drop patterns and always enjoyed the challenge of the external load work. They kept you quite busy in CWN ops, and you could stay out all season."

Paul M. Ross, Jr. is a firefighter/EMT/helitack squad leader and professional writer with 15 years of experience in both Western U.S. wildland firefighting and urban fire-rescue. He lives in St. Louis, where he is a firefighter/EMT for the Eureka Fire Protection District. Contact him at prossjr@yahoo.com.