CALIFORNIA FIRES
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Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 49
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From: open air
CALIFORNIA FIRES
Just wondering if some Ppruners are up to how the crews are doing in California.
How many duty hours are they doing? How many hours flown? How are they rostering to cope with fatigue? How many of them are night dropping and how are they handling duty hours and safety??
I guess thay are doing a job worth to know about ....
thanks in advance and fly safe
How many duty hours are they doing? How many hours flown? How are they rostering to cope with fatigue? How many of them are night dropping and how are they handling duty hours and safety??
I guess thay are doing a job worth to know about ....
thanks in advance and fly safe
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 2,081
Likes: 189
From: Redding CA, or on a fire somewhere
I was on the Camp fire day 1, I have 4 of my aircraft on it now. No night drops, and fatigue is not an issue as we are down to 10 hour days due to lack of daylight---we normally do 14 hour days. Most days have been no fly days due to visibility anyway.
Command and control was a mess on day 1 & 2 as it moved so fast and then in came CHP and decided to freelance rescues with out talking to Air Attack supervisor....a lot of political wrangling going on.... More to follow....
Command and control was a mess on day 1 & 2 as it moved so fast and then in came CHP and decided to freelance rescues with out talking to Air Attack supervisor....a lot of political wrangling going on.... More to follow....
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,951
Likes: 90
From: After all, what’s more important than proving to someone on the internet that they’re wrong? - Manson
Waldorf and Statdtler moment -
No different to what we used to do more than 30 years ago!
Can't remember blowing so much smoke up each other either - but hey that's progress or maybe a cultural thing!
Joined: May 2002
Aviation Qualifications: ATP+Mil
Posts: 18,633
Likes: 1,072
From: Downeast
The old question of Bucket or Belly Tank continues as both systems mature and improve.
Used to be Belly Tanks were used for brush fires and Buckets for Forest Fires.
Then....the Greeners in California who worry about some fish while the whole forest around them is burning down...got into the act.
Their worry....some fire retardant left in on the insides of the bucket might contaminate a bit of water!
Like the mud slides, ash, and fallen timber clogging the very same streams would not create a problem that far transcends any possible contamination done by a bucket.
https://www.helicoptersmagazine.com/...elly-tanks-111
Forest practices (or the lack of it )also plays a huge role in these fires.
Building Codes that allow for wood shingle roofing and brush/trees being left to grow right up against dwellings and other structures also causes a problem.
Of course....the Media and others shall invariably blame Climate Change for these calamities....rather than fairly discuss ALL the issues that are a factor.
Used to be Belly Tanks were used for brush fires and Buckets for Forest Fires.
Then....the Greeners in California who worry about some fish while the whole forest around them is burning down...got into the act.
Their worry....some fire retardant left in on the insides of the bucket might contaminate a bit of water!
Like the mud slides, ash, and fallen timber clogging the very same streams would not create a problem that far transcends any possible contamination done by a bucket.
https://www.helicoptersmagazine.com/...elly-tanks-111
Forest practices (or the lack of it )also plays a huge role in these fires.
Building Codes that allow for wood shingle roofing and brush/trees being left to grow right up against dwellings and other structures also causes a problem.
Of course....the Media and others shall invariably blame Climate Change for these calamities....rather than fairly discuss ALL the issues that are a factor.
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 768
Likes: 45
From: Montreal
Maybe its an AW139 thing, wide-body, piss-poor utility visibility, and a couple of guys obviously out of their element in confined/unprepared sites. Compensated for by overactive, though productive, CRM. A single-pilot bush guy with an AStar would just have gone in, landed, and left, humming "the high and the mighty". Gordy has mentioned before it is somewhat a "kalifornia" thing with multiple government agencies with their own fleets (this one was LA County Fire - Air Ops) criss-crossing over each other, where out of state the fire is co-ordinated by gov/state, but helicopters are contracted experienced utility operators. You won't substitute experience with training. Was anybody else straining their eyes looking for guy wires?
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 443
Likes: 2
From: Texas, like a whole other country
Maybe its an AW139 thing, wide-body, piss-poor utility visibility, and a couple of guys obviously out of their element in confined/unprepared sites. Compensated for by overactive, though productive, CRM. A single-pilot bush guy with an AStar would just have gone in, landed, and left, humming "the high and the mighty". Gordy has mentioned before it is somewhat a "kalifornia" thing with multiple government agencies with their own fleets (this one was LA County Fire - Air Ops) criss-crossing over each other, where out of state the fire is co-ordinated by gov/state, but helicopters are contracted experienced utility operators. You won't substitute experience with training. Was anybody else straining their eyes looking for guy wires?