Fire Fighting From The Sky

Holy shit and there I was...

2016 Year of the Monkey said to finally be good for rats and so far its been dead on! This was my first official hitch of the year fire fighting and it struck like lightning. Day 1 started off with a bang. We were currently assigned to a fire in Northern California when out managers told us we had been reassigned to a new fire in the Grand Canyon. I had never been there before and definitely never flown a helicopter anywhere near that part of the country so needless to say I was instantly filled with adrenalin and absolute terror (don't F up in the GC flying its a long way down) Anyway we packed everything up and off we went. 

It took us about a six hour flight with two fuel stops on the way before we all (other pilot and our crew chief) this beauty. Before we reached the canyon all we could see was the palteau we were flying over and then BOOM there it was. Imagine you're sprinting on level ground when all of a sudden the floor drops 8,000' from you and the wind decides to punch you around while you're at it. Our helicopter's 72' from tip to tail, we can weigh up to 21,000lbs but it didn't matter, at least to me ha I felt like a little bumble bee trying to cross and ocean. 

Day 2 was full of excitement thats for sure. We were called to the fire which was on the North Rim and of course we were staging out of the South Rim so yes got to fly back and forth over the canyon many many times. Just watching out for the tour helicopters was stressful enough and once we got the the fire I thought it would be smooth sailing from there...ha NOPE! We were the only ones flying on that fire so I never thought I'd have to watch for other aircrafts but shortly after we got our bearings and semi comfortable with having to drop 5,000' from plateau to the Colorado River for water one the the ground crews radioed to us "Uh hey guys, I think I see a large drone or glider flying near you." Drones scare me to death! Ive never actually seen one but theres been a few times on fires where someone took a picture of our helicopter and when they looked closer saw that there was a drone hovering next to us. Anyway so as soon as I heard that my eyes starting doing an intense search and wouldn't you know it there it was and it was HUGE! It was as long as a truck but skinny looking like a glider. We had just climbed out of the "hole" aka canyon when we saw it about 2 miles away looking like it was following us. We headed to the fire dropped our tank of water trying to look for the drone again when we spotted it about 5 miles away flying towards us at the same altitude. Right then and there the other pilot and I looked at each other and said "Yep we're good lets go home." It was not worth the risk, the fire was dying down no lives or animals were in danger and the perimeter was secure so we boogied back to base. 

After a few days in the Grand Canyon we were dispatched everywhere in New Mexico and on my last 2 days we flew to Spearfish, South Dakota stopping in Durango, Colorado for the night. Durango is a lovely little town I always enjoy visiting but Spearfish SD? I once again had never been there so my adrenalin started pumping through my veins again! On my last day we flew a total of 8 hrs, 4 from Durando to Spearfish and 4 on the fire. Of the entire 12 days I was on hitch I have to say hands down that last 4 hours fire fighting was the most fun part! The pong we were dipping out of looked like any normal pond until you got closer and noticed it was mostly all shallow water about 4-5' deep except this 15' crater in the middle with deep deep deep blue water. Who knows how deep that thing goes I definitely didn't want to find out so we stayed as close to the shallows as possible in case something happened this birdie wasn't going to keep sinking and hit China! I must say though it was a beautiful pond and beautiful country! Unfortunately when we were flying up from Durango we crossed over the Rockies and it seemed like an abyss of dead trees. The pine beetles and raped and pillaged millions of acres leaving nothing but giant matches waiting to be struck by lightning. It made my heart sink knowing its only a matter of time before there is a fire here and damn will it be a powerful one. On a positive note luckily the area we were fire fighting was full of healthy evergreens like a thick dense blanket of forest covering the hillside.  It was out in a few days, I was only there for that first day and the helicopter moved on to a different state. 

This hitch was an awesome way to start out my 2016 fire season. I fought 5 different fires, flew well over 2,000 miles and across 8 different states. I saw the Grand Canyon for the first time and got to check out a little taste of  South Dakota. I love my job, I love the people I am so fortunate enough to work with and all the incredible adventures we experience together every round. This is my first go at writing about my experience I hope you enjoyed and let me know if you have any suggestions or whatever I should do!