In NZ theres 48 rescue helicopters all with fire buckets, plus a load of other commercial helicopter business that will help (for a fee) with large bush fires that are ongoing / take days to put out. In PPL and CPL fire bucket training is part of the NZ license (not sure if that the same for UK?) ... of course NZ can have a lot of bush fires and can be ripe at mid summer, so theres a call for it.
I did here from my bothering law who's in the RAF that the rescue helicopter service in the UK is going pubic (like in NZ) ... note this may be a rumor! But if thats the case you might find that more fire work maybe part of the change, most rescue services have to push any "Emergency help" they can so the government funding keeps rolling in ... although saying that most struggle and a lot of funding comes from public charity and / or running a commercial business with the rescue helicopter ... thank those that give, without them a good number would fold.
Oh and ... hi ... new here ... just thought I would join in
