Heliport
21st Aug 2001, 16:13
RUCH, Ore. (AP)
Pilot Paul Mavrinac is modest as he surveys the pasture where his helicopter and 10 others have been based during daily air assaults on a wildfire in southern Oregon.
We don't put the fire out. The guys on the ground put the fire out. We just slow it down, said Mavrinac, who's been a chopper pilot for 25 years.
But to people on the ground, the pilots flying helicopters and water tanker airplanes are a pivotal piece of the battle.
Resident of Ruch, near a blaze that has burned more than 5,800 acres near the California state line, have thanked the pilots for flying in the hot, dry air by treating them to snow cones, ice cream bars and Popsicles.
Mavrinac, 47, flies a heavy-lift helicopter for Erickson Air Crane of Central Point, Ore., one of several companies supplying a variety of aircraft to the firefighting effort.
Mavrinac's big orange chopper, named Incredible Hulk, carries a 2,600-gallon water tank under its belly and a pump that sucks enough water through a hose dipped into a lake or river to fill the tank in 45 seconds. Without the detachable tank, the long-legged chopper looks like a praying mantis.
The Hulk costs $7,000 per hour to hire.
In a six-hour shift Thursday, Mavrinac dumped 62,000 gallons of water onto the flames.
All aircraft combined dumped 320,000 gallons of water on the fire that day, according to Jim Shumway, the Oregon Department of Forestry's air operations director for the fire.
By Friday, crews on the ground had been able to build lines around 40 percent of fire, much of which has burned in very steep, inaccessible terrain.
Having the aircraft is really critical, said Dennis Turco, a state Department of Forestry spokesman.
It's all a team effort, said Jeff Shelton, 42, a pilot for Snowy Butte Helicopters of Medford.
Copyright © 2001 The Associated Press
http://www.erickson-aircrane.com/images/firefight.jpg
http://www.erickson-aircrane.com/images/siksc84.jpg
Have any Rotorheads experience of fire-fighting to share with the rest of us?
[ 21 August 2001: Message edited by: Heliport ]
Pilot Paul Mavrinac is modest as he surveys the pasture where his helicopter and 10 others have been based during daily air assaults on a wildfire in southern Oregon.
We don't put the fire out. The guys on the ground put the fire out. We just slow it down, said Mavrinac, who's been a chopper pilot for 25 years.
But to people on the ground, the pilots flying helicopters and water tanker airplanes are a pivotal piece of the battle.
Resident of Ruch, near a blaze that has burned more than 5,800 acres near the California state line, have thanked the pilots for flying in the hot, dry air by treating them to snow cones, ice cream bars and Popsicles.
Mavrinac, 47, flies a heavy-lift helicopter for Erickson Air Crane of Central Point, Ore., one of several companies supplying a variety of aircraft to the firefighting effort.
Mavrinac's big orange chopper, named Incredible Hulk, carries a 2,600-gallon water tank under its belly and a pump that sucks enough water through a hose dipped into a lake or river to fill the tank in 45 seconds. Without the detachable tank, the long-legged chopper looks like a praying mantis.
The Hulk costs $7,000 per hour to hire.
In a six-hour shift Thursday, Mavrinac dumped 62,000 gallons of water onto the flames.
All aircraft combined dumped 320,000 gallons of water on the fire that day, according to Jim Shumway, the Oregon Department of Forestry's air operations director for the fire.
By Friday, crews on the ground had been able to build lines around 40 percent of fire, much of which has burned in very steep, inaccessible terrain.
Having the aircraft is really critical, said Dennis Turco, a state Department of Forestry spokesman.
It's all a team effort, said Jeff Shelton, 42, a pilot for Snowy Butte Helicopters of Medford.
Copyright © 2001 The Associated Press
http://www.erickson-aircrane.com/images/firefight.jpg
http://www.erickson-aircrane.com/images/siksc84.jpg
Have any Rotorheads experience of fire-fighting to share with the rest of us?
[ 21 August 2001: Message edited by: Heliport ]