At 1112 hours on August 11, 1990, Copter 406 was dispatched, along with five engines, two bulldozers, two handcrews, an air attack plane, and two air tankers, to a reported wildland fire near the Calandra Lookout in southern Monterey County, California. On board C406 were myself, pilots Ted Smith and Jim Chandler, and eight firefighters.
Thirty minutes later, our helicopter encircled a brushfire one mile southeast of the lookout. We radioed an incident size-up to command center in King City and located a water source for our ship. Below us was a 50-acre fire in heavy brush, with flame lengths in excess of 40 feet, spreading up a canyon in steep terrain at a rapid rate (more than three ntph) toward the lookout.
After conferring with the two pilots via intercom, I decided that our best course of action was to land near a road in the canyon bottom close to the fire’s origin and have the crew disembark. The crew and I then would cut a handline from the road up to the ridgetop fuel break along the fire’s right flank while the helicopter lifted off again and dropped water along the fire perimeter using the bucket.
We landed at the heel of the fire and met with Battalion 4612 (Bob Wood), the first-arriving ground unit. After receiving Wood’s approval for our plan, we set off to the fire’s edge. Three hours later the crew had cut over one mile of handline, persevering through the loose shale and dust and the heat of the fire and the afternoon sun. We finally met up with the dozers on top of the ridge. My tired and thirsty crew then was airlifted out for a well-deserved rest and meal.
Even though the lookout had to be evacuated, the structure and radio repeaters were saved and the fire was limited to 200 total acres. The final containment operation, lasting seven hours, was accomplished by more than 180 firefighters staffing 13 engines, eight handcrews, two dozers, six air tankers, and other equipment. One firefighter suffered moderate injuries while battling the blaze.
COPTER 406 RESPONDS
As with most fires, this one was caused by man: We discovered exploded shell casings in the area of origin from a gun with home-loaded ammunition containing far too much gun powder.
Copter 406 was dispatched to the “Deer” fire on September 2, 1990. At 1440 hours we arrived over a grass and brush fire along the southeastern edge of Fort Hunter-Liggett in southern Monterey County. I performed size-up and communicated it to King City command: 10 to 20 acres of involved grass and light brush, with fire moving to the northeast at a moderate rate (one to three mph) and threatening several structures. One summer cabin was already partially involved.
Captain Mike Martin and I discussed our plan of attack and agreed to drop off our crew of six firefighters near the heel of the fire, where they could begin constructing a handline around the structures and up the left flank. Martin commanded handline operations. Pilot Ted Smith and I then proceeded to a small pond located nearby and supported the crew with water drops. I placed an order with the command center for three air tankers, realizing that we’d need them to hold the fire until ground units arrived on scene at least 30 minutes into the operation.
The air tankers and the Helitack crew were successful in holding the fire at about 70 acres, by which time three engines were on-scene and conducting a firing operation along roads on two sides of the fire. The Helitack crew had accomplished this in spite of several members becoming ill from heat, physical exertion, and the fact that our water source was a dirty, stinking, stagnant pond (that also was full of catfish, which some members were able to retrieve later for a meal!).
Unfortunately, due to weather conditions the firing operation did not hold, and the fire jumped the road. The helicopter and crew spent the rest of the afternoon supporting ground crews, protecting structures, and rescuing a resident from his rooftop, from which he was trying to protect his home with a garden hose. The home was saved, but another summer dwelling was lost as the fire spread to its final total of 300 acres. In all, 200 firefighters staffing 10 engines, 10 handcrews, four dozers, six air tankers, two helicopters, and other equipment were required to extinguish the fire. The cause later was determined to be a faulty generator used to power a well. Proper maintenance would have revealed rodent damage to both electrical cables and fuel lines.
On October 1, 1990, Copter 406 was dispatched to a wildland fire reported to be on top of a ridge about four miles south of the Smith Mountain Lookout in southeastern Monterey County. The fire was a possible “sleeper” from a lightning storm that had traveled through the area four days earlier. Sixteen minutes after dispatch, we were over a slow-moving fire involving a halfacre of oak woodland on the ridgetop. Following behind us were two air tankers, four engines, two bulldozers, two handcrews, and Battalion 4609.
We discussed strategy with the air attack supervisor flying above us. Hie crews of seven firefighters were dropped off along the right flank. The bucket was attached to C406, and the copter headed out for water to begin our support drops. The crew and 1 started handline construction from our position on the right flank, continued around the heel of the fire, and then up the left flank. Concurrently, the air attack supervisor coordinated the air tanker retardant drops coming in overhead.
Less than one hour later the fire was contained to a single acre through a combination of retardant drops, water drops, and handline reinforcement, which now extended around the entire perimeter of the fire—and not one piece of ground equipment had yet to arrive at the fire.
This incident epitomizes the purpose of Helitack crews in the CDF. It is exactly this ability to access incidents far more quickly than their ground-based counterparts, placing both personnel and suppression equipment on the scene while fires are still in their early stages of development, that gives helicopters their significant value to the fire service. This capability affords us a greater opportunity to hold fires to a minimum until ground crews arrive.
