Helitack
Encyclopedia
Helitack refers to "helicopter-delivered fire resources", and is the system of managing and using helicopter
s and their crews to perform aerial firefighting
and other firefighting duties, primarily initial attack
on wildfire
s. Helitack crews are used to attack a wildfire and gain early control of it, especially when inaccessibility would make it difficult or impossible for ground crews to respond in the same amount of time.
article, which described the "first of a series of tests—tabbed the Helitack Program—on the use of helicopters in firefighting will start next week in the San Bernardino National Forest". The word itself is a portmanteau of "helicopter" and "attack".
with standard hand tools, while the helicopter can then support the team with water drops, either with a Bambi bucket
or airframe-mounted water tanks, or ferry in additional personnel (e.g., hotshot crews). If the fire continues to grow beyond the initial attack phase, the mission of the helitack crew shifts to a support role, locating and operating at helispots and helibases, where the coordination of the support required for other firefighting helicopters.
In a situation where terrain or vegetation height make it impossible for a helicopter to land, helitack methodology can also employ rappellers, rappelling from a helicopter as high as 250 feet above the ground or deplaning crews from a hovering helicopter (heli-jumping).
When backfires, or "prescribed burns" are needed in remote areas, helitack helicopters can be used to start them, using a "helitorch", a driptorch
suspended on a cable under the helicopter, or by dropping plastic sphere dispenser (PSD) ignition devices.
In the event that a firefighter on the ground is injured, the helitack helicopter is used to evacuate the victim to a medical facility..
In 1957 the Los Angeles County Fire Department
experimentally used a Bell 47
to lay hoses using belly mounted trays.
The first water bucket was probably developed by Jim Grady of Okanagan Helicopters working with Henry Stevenson, who owned a machine shop in Nelson, British Columbia
. Development began in the mid-1950s and the "Monsoon Bucket" was operational in 1962. The bucket was a converted 45- imperial-gallon (205 L) drum with a trap door in the bottom that was actuated by the pilot in flight.
In the early 1960s the California Division of Forestry (now known as the California Department of Forestry
) began water bucketing trials. Testing was also done on a 105-U.S.-gallon (400 L) water tank mounted on a Bell 47
. US federal agencies, such as the BLM
and the USFS
also began contracting commercial helicopter services to assist in fighting wildfires on lands they were responsible for in the early 1960s.
The California Department of Forestry
began experimenting with helitack as a doctrinal concept in 1960, when a crew of three firefighters was deployed on an Alouette III
helicopter.
Helitack crews are often considered to be elite members of the firefighting community, partly because of the experience levels required to qualify as a crew member. CDF Captain Jim Barthol, in an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune, used the analogy of runners in a race to compare helitack with other handcrews. He said that "ground-based hand crews are marathon runners, while helitack crews work more like sprinters. Other hand crews might spend three days or more fighting a fire, we might work three different incidents in one day. It doesn't necessarily make us better than those other guys. It just makes us different."
Much of the helitack crews' training centers on helicopter safety, as the crews typically load and unload with the rotors turning, and sometimes in very rough terrain, where only the skid on one side can be touched down.
s, selected for both their lifting capability as well as their large cabin size to accommodate the helitack crew.
Some of the most common helicopter types are variants of the venerable UH-1 Huey
, known in the civilian world as the Bell 205
, especially upgraded variants such as the 205A++ and the 210. The twin-engine Bell 212 is also popular. Other helicopters such as the Sikorsky S-58 are also used, and the S-70 Firehawk
, a civilian version of the military's UH-60 Blackhawk, is now being operated by two agencies in the U.S.
Smaller helicopters, such as the Bell 206 JetRanger
and AS350 Astar are sometimes used for precision water drops to protect specific structures, such as cabins or homes.
Larger water dropping helicopters such as the S-64 Skycrane, which can hold as much as 3,000 gallons, rivaling fixed-wing airtankers, are increasingly being used. Only some of these larger rotorcraft have provisions for carrying ground crews, therefore may not always considered "helitack" aircraft in the true sense of the word. Some Type One rotorcraft, such as the Boeing 234
, can carry up to 44 passengers in proper configuration.
Water tanks are often permanently or semi-permanently mounted under the helicopter's belly, which can either be filled at a helispot via a hose from a fire engine, or with a "snorkel", a long hose with a water pump in its end that can suck water out of a lake or small tank set up by fire crews.
The helitack crews use the same tools on the fire lines as other ground crews do, including chain saws, axes, shovels and a specialized, two-headed cutting tool known as a Pulaski
.
in Canada each province has its own system for classifying helicopters for contract use, setting equipment standards and for employing them.
A typical system is the one that was in use by Manitoba
in 1996. The then-named Manitoba Department of Natural Resources established a stand-by system for all aircraft contracted for forest fire protection missions. This consisted of five levels of readiness, depending on the fire forecast and the time of day:
At that time the Manitoba Department of Natural Resources classified contract helicopters in two classifications:
The province also sets equipment standards for these contract helicopters, which are similar to others used across Canada:
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...
s and their crews to perform 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...
and other firefighting duties, primarily initial attack
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...
on wildfire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
s. Helitack crews are used to attack a wildfire and gain early control of it, especially when inaccessibility would make it difficult or impossible for ground crews to respond in the same amount of time.
Helitack
The term helitack first appeared in a 1956 Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
article, which described the "first of a series of tests—tabbed the Helitack Program—on the use of helicopters in firefighting will start next week in the San Bernardino National Forest". The word itself is a portmanteau of "helicopter" and "attack".
Helibase
The incident Helibase is the location from which incident helicopter support missions are flown, and where the helicopters assigned to that base are parked, serviced, and refueled. Usually a helibase is in a field location that is close enough to the Incident Base Camp so that supplies and personnel can be ferried by ground to the helibase from the camp in a timely manner. More remote helibases (i.e., nearer the fire) can be established to maximize efficiency and reduce flight costs. Occasionally, helibases are located at a nearby airport or backcountry airstrip. The name of the base is designated by the name of the incident, though on large fires there can be multiple helibases. Helibases are staffed with a Helibase Manager, Deck Coordinator, Landing and Takeoff Coordinator, Radio Operator, and numerous subsidiary positions operating in a Helibase Operations trailer or out on the landing pads. Crash rescue capability is usually assigned to the larger helibases. An "H" in a circle designates a helibase on an incident map.Helispot
A Helispot is a location near a fire where it is safe for helicopters to land and take off. At this designated location, a helispot manager and usually a few helitack crewmembers will be onsite to coordinate landings and take-offs as well as the manifesting, loading and unloading of equipment and personnel. Helispots are temporarily located as the incident grows and can be found on ridges, meadows, parking lots – in short, any clearing suitable and meeting rotor clearance and hazard (wires, trees, etc.) avoidance requirements. Helispots are found on the incident map by filled in circles with the letters H-# next to it, the # designating what number it is.Drop point
A Helicopter drop point, or drop point is similar to a helispot, but used for depositing, often via longline, and caching supplies. Helicopters and supply vehicles use the drop point to off-load supplies at the edge of an incident for the ground teams to come by and pick up. Drop points may be located all around the fire. Wildland firefighters will usually pick up sharpened tools, pumps and hoses, water, food, radio batteries, etc. at the drop points. On an incident map, the symbol for a drop point is a filled dot with the letters D-# next to them with the # designating which number is it.Methodology
A helitack helicopter will launch with a crew onboard, drop them in the vicinity of the fire (or "incident") where they will begin clearing a firebreakFirebreak
A firebreak is a gap in vegetation or other combustible material that acts as a barrier to slow or stop the progress of a bushfire or wildfire. A firebreak may occur naturally where there is a lack of vegetation or "fuel", such as a river, lake or canyon...
with standard hand tools, while the helicopter can then support the team with water drops, either with a Bambi bucket
Bambi bucket
A helicopter bucket is a specialised bucket suspended on a cable carried by a helicopter to deliver water for aerial firefighting. 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 airframe-mounted water tanks, or ferry in additional personnel (e.g., hotshot crews). If the fire continues to grow beyond the initial attack phase, the mission of the helitack crew shifts to a support role, locating and operating at helispots and helibases, where the coordination of the support required for other firefighting helicopters.
In a situation where terrain or vegetation height make it impossible for a helicopter to land, helitack methodology can also employ rappellers, rappelling from a helicopter as high as 250 feet above the ground or deplaning crews from a hovering helicopter (heli-jumping).
When backfires, or "prescribed burns" are needed in remote areas, helitack helicopters can be used to start them, using a "helitorch", a driptorch
Driptorch
A driptorch is a tool used in wildfire suppression, controlled burning, and other forestry applications to intentionally ignite fires.The driptorch consists of a canister for holding fuel with a handle attached to the side, a spout with a loop to prevent fire from entering the fuel canister, a...
suspended on a cable under the helicopter, or by dropping plastic sphere dispenser (PSD) ignition devices.
In the event that a firefighter on the ground is injured, the helitack helicopter is used to evacuate the victim to a medical facility..
History
Helicopters were used in combating wildfires in California as early as 1947 and their usefulness at moving personnel rapidly around a fire was quickly recognized. Initially, helicopters were just used for tactical and logistical support for ground crews.In 1957 the Los Angeles County Fire Department
Los Angeles County Fire Department
The Los Angeles County Fire Department , serves unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County, as well as 58 cities and towns that choose to have the county provide fire and EMS services, including La Habra. It should not be confused with the Los Angeles City Fire Department, which serves the city of...
experimentally used a Bell 47
Bell 47
The Bell 47 is a two-bladed, single engine, light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. Based on the third Model 30 prototype, Bell's first helicopter designed by Arthur M. Young, the Bell 47 became the first helicopter certified for civilian use on 8 March 1946...
to lay hoses using belly mounted trays.
The first water bucket was probably developed by Jim Grady of Okanagan Helicopters working with Henry Stevenson, who owned a machine shop in Nelson, British Columbia
Nelson, British Columbia
Nelson is a city located in the Selkirk Mountains on the extreme West Arm of Kootenay Lake in the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Known as "The Queen City", and acknowledged for its impressive collection of restored heritage buildings from its glory days in a regional silver rush,...
. Development began in the mid-1950s and the "Monsoon Bucket" was operational in 1962. The bucket was a converted 45- imperial-gallon (205 L) drum with a trap door in the bottom that was actuated by the pilot in flight.
In the early 1960s the California Division of Forestry (now known as the California Department of Forestry
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is the State of California's agency responsible for fire protection in State Responsibility Areas of California as well as the administration of the state's private and public forests. It is often referred to as The California Department of...
) began water bucketing trials. Testing was also done on a 105-U.S.-gallon (400 L) water tank mounted on a Bell 47
Bell 47
The Bell 47 is a two-bladed, single engine, light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. Based on the third Model 30 prototype, Bell's first helicopter designed by Arthur M. Young, the Bell 47 became the first helicopter certified for civilian use on 8 March 1946...
. US federal agencies, such as the BLM
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
and the USFS
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
also began contracting commercial helicopter services to assist in fighting wildfires on lands they were responsible for in the early 1960s.
The California Department of Forestry
CDF Aviation Management Program
The CDF Aviation Management Program is a branch of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection . Due to the frequency and severity of wildfires in California, the state has elected to establish its own aerial firefighting force rather than rely solely on national resources...
began experimenting with helitack as a doctrinal concept in 1960, when a crew of three firefighters was deployed on an Alouette III
Aérospatiale Alouette III
The Aérospatiale Alouette III is a single-engine, light utility helicopter developed by Sud Aviation. It was manufactured by Aérospatiale of France, and under licence by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in India as Hal Chetak and Industria Aeronautică Română in Romania.The Alouette III is the...
helicopter.
Crews
Crew sizes vary from base to base and agency to agency.Helitack crews are often considered to be elite members of the firefighting community, partly because of the experience levels required to qualify as a crew member. CDF Captain Jim Barthol, in an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune, used the analogy of runners in a race to compare helitack with other handcrews. He said that "ground-based hand crews are marathon runners, while helitack crews work more like sprinters. Other hand crews might spend three days or more fighting a fire, we might work three different incidents in one day. It doesn't necessarily make us better than those other guys. It just makes us different."
Much of the helitack crews' training centers on helicopter safety, as the crews typically load and unload with the rotors turning, and sometimes in very rough terrain, where only the skid on one side can be touched down.
Equipment
Helicopters used for helitack missions are usually utility helicopterUtility helicopter
A Utility Helicopter is a multi-purpose helicopter. A utility military helicopter can fill roles such as ground attack, air assault, cargo, surveillance and troop transport. Their size is generally between cargo helicopters and light observation helicopters....
s, selected for both their lifting capability as well as their large cabin size to accommodate the helitack crew.
Some of the most common helicopter types are variants of the venerable UH-1 Huey
UH-1 Iroquois
The Bell UH-1 Iroquois is a military helicopter powered by a single, turboshaft engine, with a two-bladed main rotor and tail rotor. The helicopter was developed by Bell Helicopter to meet the United States Army's requirement for a medical evacuation and utility helicopter in 1952, and first flew...
, known in the civilian world as the Bell 205
Bell 204/205
The Bell 204 and 205 are the civil versions of the ubiquitous UH-1 Iroquois single-engine military helicopters. They are type-certificated in the transport category and are used in a wide variety of applications, including crop dusting, cargo lifting, and one of its most common uses, aerial...
, especially upgraded variants such as the 205A++ and the 210. The twin-engine Bell 212 is also popular. Other helicopters such as the Sikorsky S-58 are also used, and the S-70 Firehawk
Sikorsky S-70
The Sikorsky S-70 is a medium transport/utility helicopter family manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. It was developed for the U.S. Army in the 1970s, winning a competition to be designated the UH-60 Blackhawk and spawning a large family in U.S. military service...
, a civilian version of the military's UH-60 Blackhawk, is now being operated by two agencies in the U.S.
Smaller helicopters, such as the Bell 206 JetRanger
Bell 206
The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- or twin-engine helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter program, the 206 failed to be selected...
and AS350 Astar are sometimes used for precision water drops to protect specific structures, such as cabins or homes.
Larger water dropping helicopters such as the S-64 Skycrane, which can hold as much as 3,000 gallons, rivaling fixed-wing airtankers, are increasingly being used. Only some of these larger rotorcraft have provisions for carrying ground crews, therefore may not always considered "helitack" aircraft in the true sense of the word. Some Type One rotorcraft, such as the Boeing 234
CH-47 Chinook
The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is an American twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter. Its top speed of 170 knots is faster than contemporary utility and attack helicopters of the 1960s...
, can carry up to 44 passengers in proper configuration.
Water tanks are often permanently or semi-permanently mounted under the helicopter's belly, which can either be filled at a helispot via a hose from a fire engine, or with a "snorkel", a long hose with a water pump in its end that can suck water out of a lake or small tank set up by fire crews.
The helitack crews use the same tools on the fire lines as other ground crews do, including chain saws, axes, shovels and a specialized, two-headed cutting tool known as a Pulaski
Pulaski (tool)
The pulaski is a special hand tool used in wildland firefighting.The tool combines an axe and an adze in one head, similar to that of the cutter mattock, with a rigid handle of wood, plastic, or fiberglass. The pulaski is a versatile tool for constructing firebreaks, as it can be used to both dig...
.
US classification system
In the U.S., helitack helicopters are designated by "type", as defined by the Interagency Helicopter Operations Guide, based on their capacities:| Type | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allowable payload, standard conditions | 5,000 lb | 2,500 lb | 1,200 lb |
| Passenger seats | 15+ | 9–14 | 4–8 |
| Water/retardant | 700 gallons | 300 gallons | 100 gallons |
| Max takeoff/landing weights | 12,501+ lb | 6,000–12,500 lb | less than 6,000 lb |
Canadian classification system
Since forest protection is a provincial responsibilityConstitution of Canada
The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada; the country's constitution is an amalgamation of codified acts and uncodified traditions and conventions. It outlines Canada's system of government, as well as the civil rights of all Canadian citizens and those in Canada...
in Canada each province has its own system for classifying helicopters for contract use, setting equipment standards and for employing them.
A typical system is the one that was in use by Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
in 1996. The then-named Manitoba Department of Natural Resources established a stand-by system for all aircraft contracted for forest fire protection missions. This consisted of five levels of readiness, depending on the fire forecast and the time of day:
- Red Alert: Crews are at the base with the aircraft serviced, fueled and ready for immediate dispatch.
- Yellow Alert: Crews can be contacted and be at the base within fifteen minutes. The aircraft is fuelled. Minor aircraft servicing is permitted. The aircraft must be airborne within 30 minutes of receiving the dispatch call.
- Blue 1: The crews can be contacted and the aircraft can be airborne within one hour of receiving a dispatch call. Routine servicing and maintenance of the aircraft are permitted.
- Blue 2: The crews can be contacted and the aircraft airborne within two hours of receiving a dispatch call. Routine servicing and maintenance of the aircraft are permitted.
- Green Stand-down.
At that time the Manitoba Department of Natural Resources classified contract helicopters in two classifications:
- Medium Lift Helicopter
- Light Lift Helicopter
The province also sets equipment standards for these contract helicopters, which are similar to others used across Canada:
Medium-lift helicopter
- VHFVery high frequencyVery high frequency is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency...
-AM Radio Communication Transceiver (118–136 MHz). - VHF-FM "hi band" radio receiver capable of operating on the Department of Natural Resources' assigned frequencies (160–165 MHz). The radio shall have dual tone multi-frequency encoding capability.
- Crew intercom with four headsets and air to ground communications capability on VHF-AM and FM from at least both front seat locations.
- Cargo hook
- Two 12-foot × 12-foot nets
- Two lanyards
- One barrel net.
- 320-imperial-gallon (1,450 L) capacity collapsible water bucket with foam injection capability.
- Skid landing gear with bear paws.
- Portable refuelling pump.
- Global Positioning SystemGlobal Positioning SystemThe Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...
Light-lift helicopter
- VHF-AMAirbandAirband or Aircraft band is the name for a group of frequencies in the VHF radio spectrum allocated to radio communication in civil aviation, sometimes also referred to as VHF, or phonetically as "Victor"...
Radio Communication Transceiver (118–136 MHz). - VHF-FM "hi band" radio able to operate on the Department of Natural Resources' assigned frequencies (160–165 MHz) with dual tone multi-frequency encoding capability.
- Two head sets, intercom and air to ground communication.
- Cargo hook
- Two slings or cargo nets.
- Water bucket with instant deployment system.
- High skid gear with bear paws.
- Electrical plug with related 50-ampereAmpereThe ampere , often shortened to amp, is the SI unit of electric current and is one of the seven SI base units. It is named after André-Marie Ampère , French mathematician and physicist, considered the father of electrodynamics...
circuit breakerCircuit breakerA circuit breaker is an automatically operated electrical switch designed to protect an electrical circuit from damage caused by overload or short circuit. Its basic function is to detect a fault condition and, by interrupting continuity, to immediately discontinue electrical flow...
suitable for use with Heli-Torch. - Model MS-3102A-16 Cannon plug with related 10 ampere circuit breaker conveniently located for use with provincial Aga 750 infrared scanning equipment.
- Global Positioning System.
Incidents
- September 13, 2004 – While fighting a fire in the Stanislaus National ForestStanislaus National ForestStanislaus National Forest contains in four counties in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Northern California. It was established on February 22, 1897, making it one of the oldest national forests...
in northern CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, seven members of a CDF helitack crew were engulfed in the flames when the wind shifted in their direction. The gust lasted for no more than 30 seconds, but one firefighter was killed and several of the survivors were critically burned.
See also
- Helicopter bucket
- Glossary of wildland fire termsGlossary of wildland fire termsThe following is a glossary of wildfire terms. Except where noted, terms are taken from a 1998 Fireline Handbook transcribed for a Conflict 21 counter-terrorism studies website by the Air National Guard....
- Wildland fire suppressionWildland fire suppressionWildfire suppression refers to the firefighting tactics used to suppress wildfires. Firefighting efforts in wildland areas requires different techniques, equipment, and training from the more familiar structure fire fighting found in populated areas...