lk978.
What does out initial attack consist of a couple of guys in a jetranger mapping out where the small puffs of smoke are...
In NSW we commonly use
detection flights on a particularly bad day or after a lightning front has come through. Usually a fixed-wing due to cost considerations and the ability to cover more country than is possible with a Jetty.
First-attack with aircraft is often undertaken with a prepositioned AT802. We keep the contract aircraft on standby in the areas of greatest risk. (according to the weather gurus and the lightning tracker systems..) Particularly if there's been a little rain with the storm, it often works to paint the smoker and the ground around it red, (Phoscheck) with the aim of keeping it quiet until a crew can get in.
As a lot of the rough, timbered country is managed by either State Forests on National Parks, these services do have trained remote-area crews that can either hike in, or winch in from a 'copter. The RFS also has RAFT crews, but we deploy them by winch less often.
As
Buster said, there's no great enthusiasm here for parachute crews. If there's a big enough hole for them to jump into, we can land a heli in there.