The dream of many successful Americans of building an upscale house surrounded by trees next to the forest has been realized. However, the cyclic role of fire in the forest has been largely ignored. Now after suppressing wildfire for most of the last century, our forests have an overabundance of fuel with the result that forest fires are larger and burn hotter than in previous years. In the 2000 fire season more than 7 million acres of wildland/forest burned in the U.S.A.. Fires at the wildland/urban interface at Los Alamos, New Mexico, Montana, California, and Florida made headlines around the world. To protect properties worth millions of dollars against a major fire is a multi-million dollar operation.

Can you see the orange Heli-Basket^® in the photo of wildfire in Florida? It is above the clearing in the bottom center of the photo. Notice how rotor downwash from the helicopter (a commercial version of the Sikorsky Blackhawk) cleared the smoke away from the Heli-Basket, allowing it to be accessed.

Precision Lift, Inc.'s Fire-Fighting Module

PLI's Fire-Fighting Module is a helicopter-transported unit that can be used to suppress fire in mop-up operations and used to protect structures. It consists of a "slip-on" fire-fighting module in the Heli-Basket that is used to apply water and fire-fighting chemicals.

• Description of the Fire-Fighting Module
• Mop Up Operations using the Fire-Fighting Module to Apply Foam
• Structure Protection using the Fire-Fighting Module to Apply Gel

Emergency Rescue of Personnel and Victims*

Large fires are unpredictable. With a change in the wind direction or humidity or a passing storm front, the fire can suddenly change character. In the summer of 2000 large fires burned for 2 months in the Bitterroot Valley in Western Montana. On August 6, 2000, there was a major "blow up." Fire size increased by several thousand acres in a few hours, sending up a column of smoke 30,000 feet high. Six large fires coalesced that afternoon into 2 complexes-the Valley Complex and the Sula Complex. Later these complexes joined to form the 340,000 acre Bitterroot Complex.

In fire situations such as in the Bitterroot or as described in the case studies in the links below, the ability to rapidly move equipment and personnel* is critical. With a skillful pilot and a reliable helicopter, the Heli-Basket can evacuate equipment, personnel*, and victims* from dangerous emergency situations. The Heli-Basket can extract an entire crew (up to 16 persons)* from places where the helicopter can not land. The photos to the left show 4 fire-fighters unloading a person on a stretcher from a Heli-Basket.

* - Civil Aviation Rules apply.

Links to Other Sites

Statistics for the 2000 Fire Season from National Interagency Fire Center

Descriptive summary of the 2000 Fire Season from National Interagency Fire Center

Photos of wildland fires in the US, Summer, 2000 from National Interagency Fire Center

Case study of the Black Tiger Fire, Colorado from FireWise

Case study of the Calabasas Incident, California from Wildfire Magazine

Army National Guard Helicopters fighting fires

Brainerd Helicopters, Inc. has photos of its Firehawk helicopter fighting fires in Florida. Also, several photos of the Heli-Basket in Florida.

International Helicopter Firefighters Association Go to the "Fire Pictures" page.

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