Hey Spice,
calm down mate. With more than 18.000 hours including fire fighting, mountain, arctic, HEMS etc. etc. I known what I'm talking about.
1st: you need a lot of experience on bigger machines
2nd: at least 2000, better 3000 hours with lots of external load
3rd: fine judgment of your own capabilities
Grow in the business and be patient. I lost some friends because of their overconfidence in their capabilities. Try to become an old pilot some time. The bold ones don't make it.
@R.OCKAPE: <<Fire fighting requires far less skill and is far less dangerous than precision long lining in a SE helicopter.>> You're kidding
It requires different skills than longlining.
And for the danger.
-What's about
: plumes of hot air,
-density altitudes far away from normal,
-smoke and reduced visibility,
-coordination with other aircraft,
-hovering over water.
To me it seems you did not a lot of fire fighting, sorry.