For 27 years, Los Angeles County has had a partnership with Canadian Province of Quebec. Quebec contracts to send Canadair CL-415 Super Scoopers to California for assistance with wildland fires. Battalion Chief Pat Sprengel gives a tour of the Super Scooper...
Watch How Fast This Embraer C-390 Converts from Cargo Plane to Water Bomber
Embraer reported Monday that it has successfully completed the flight testing to receive certification the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS II), which allows the C-390 Millennium to be converted from a cargo plane to perform firefighting missions. Embraer...
CAL FIRE Helicopter Crash Injures Three Returning from Fairview Fire
A helicopter assisting with operations in the Fairview fire near Hemet crashed while attempting to land at the Banning Airport, fire officials said Saturday afternoon. The helicopter was privately owned, officials said, and crashed into a backyard just before 4 p.m....
Helicopter Water Drop Hits Hotshot Crew at Hermit Peak (NM) Fire, Three Injured
https://youtu.be/uT8oEnBdSJ8 A helicopter hit firefighters with a water drop at the Hermit Peak fire Sunday, injuring three of them. The incident took place at 10:30 a.m. at the fire, which is been burning since early April in the Santa Fe National Forest. Two of the...
Record Fleet of Super Scooper Aircraft Assembled at Santa Fe (NM)
A quick look at the airport in Santa Fe and the casual observer might think there was a convention of super scooper aircraft in town. That's because the location of multiple wildland fires in the Southwest makes the airport the perfect base of operations for both...
Pilot Killed Attempting Nighttime Air Drop Fighting Estes Park (CO) Fire
A pilot attempting a first-ever nighttime air drop in Colorado to fight the Kruger Rock wildfire in Estes Park has died. News 9 spoke with the pilot before take off. He was excited to attempt the nighttime drop, after five years of planning, in the hope it would make...
ForestTech Center Launched to Develop Integrated Technology Solutions to Combat Wildfires
The Advanced Mobility Collective Partners with the Colorado Center of Excellence for Advanced Technology Aerial Firefighting to Foster Collaboration Winter Park, Colo. (Nov. 15, 2021) – The Advanced Mobility Collective has launched the first of its kind ForestTech...
Fuel Shortage Could Ground Firefighting Aircraft
By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Airport officials facing jet fuel shortages are concerned they’ll have to wave off planes and helicopters that drop fire retardants during what could be a ferocious wildfire season, potentially endangering...
Two Killed in Plane Crash Responding to AZ Wildfire
WIKIEUP, Ariz. (AP) — Federal authorities on Sunday were at the scene of the crash of a small plane that killed two crew members responding to a wildfire in northwestern Arizona. Both people aboard the Beechcraft King Air C-90 aircraft died in Saturday’s crash. The...
More Help Sought for Montana Wildfires
Firefighting aircraft return to work BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s firefighting aircraft returned to duty Friday as officials sought even more personnel and aircraft ahead of a shift in the weather that could stir up a large blaze on the Wyoming...
Southern California Receives Two Large Firefighting Helicopters
Boeing Chinook helitankers already at work over Ventura County By AMY TAXIN Associated Press LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. (AP) — Southern California fire agencies are getting two large-scale helicopters that can each carry up to 3,000 gallons (11.356 liters) of...
Alaska Smokejumpers First Jump of the 2021 Fire Season
Smokejumpers head out to the Pilot Point Fire BLM Alaska Alaska Smokejumpers loading up for the first fire jump of the 2021 Alaska fire season was caught on video on May 24, 2021. The 12 BLM Alaska Fire Service smokejumpers flew 599 miles to the Pilot...