A helicopter bucket is a specialised bucket suspended on a cable carried by a helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

 to deliver water for aerial firefighting

Aerial firefighting

Aerial firefighting is the use of aircraft and other aerial resources to combat wildfires. The types of aircraft used include fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Smokejumpers and rappellers are also classified as aerial firefighters, delivered to the fire by parachute from a variety of fixed-wing...

. Each bucket has a release valve on the bottom which is controlled by the helicopter crew. When the helicopter is in position, the crew releases the water to extinguish or suppress the fire below. Each release of the water is referred to as a drop. The design of the buckets allows the helicopter to hover over a water source – such as a lake, river, pond, or tank – and lower the bucket into the water to refill it. This allows the helicopter crew to operate the bucket in remote locations without the need to return to a permanent operating base, reducing the time between successive drops.

Buckets can be collapsible or rigid and vary in capacity from 72 to 2,600 gallons (275 to 9,840 liters). The size of each bucket is determined by
the lifting capacity of the helicopter required to utilise each version. Some buckets can include fire retardant foam

Fire retardant foam

Fire-fighting foam is a foam used for fire suppression. Its role is to cool the fire and to coat the fuel, preventing its contact with oxygen, resulting in suppression of the combustion. Fire-fighting foam was invented by the Russian engineer and chemist Aleksandr Loran in 1902.The surfactants used...

 or the ability to pump water from the bucket into an internal tank. Smaller collapsible buckets can use water sources as shallow as 1 feet (30.5 cm). Worldwide, the term monsoon bucket is widely used and accepted as a generic term. In the United States, this type of bucket is officially referred to as a helibucket. The trademarked Bambi Bucket is also commonly used informally by firefighting crews to describe buckets developed by other manufacturers.

Variants

A-Flex Firefighting Monsoon Bucket

Collapsible bucket produced by A-Flex Technology.

Bambi Bucket

Collapsible bucket developed by Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 Don Arney and produced by SEI Industries since 1983.

CLOUDBURST Fire Bucket

Collapsible bucket produced by IMSNZ Ltd.

FAST Bucket

Variable Drop, fire fighting bucket that allows the pilot to select drop patterns for bush fires to canopy fires. manufactured by Absolute Fire Solutions.

HELiFIRE Monsoon Bucket

Collapsible bucket produced by Fire & Rescue New Zealand, a non-governmental rural fire service.

Water Hog Bucket

Lightweight, collapsible, free-standing bucket developed and produced by Aerial Fire Control Pty Ltd since 2001.