Firefighters train with 'fire boss' pilots ahead of fire season
PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — As wildfire season amps up, the Oregon Department of Forestry is making sure all of its resources are fire-ready.
On Tuesday, ODF held a firefighter training with pilots of its water-scooping aircrafts.
Also known as fire bosses, the planes scoop water from lakes and dump it onto wildfires.
“These are my favorite aviation resource to work with. They deliver so much water. They’re so fast. These pilots are so good. These guys can really put out a lot of fire,” ODF forest firefighter Wally Waibel said.
The two planes contracted to ODF can hold up to 800 gallons of water. They’re expensive, so ODF only uses them when necessary.
“So understanding what they need, how best we can use them is important for all of our people,” said Waibel.
Pilot Aaron Vance said operating a single-pilot aircraft is a big job for one person.
“We’re communicating with air-to-air resources, dispatch, ground crew, and navigating and talking to the other aircraft so it can get really busy for a single pilot,” he said.
Firefighters say the fire boss pilots also use different lingo than the helicopter pilots they work with, so learning how to communicate with them is important.
“You have to describe things differently. You have to set up their drops differently,” he said.
They also say telling the pilots where the fire is based on their perspective from the ground can be difficult.
“What you see on the ground and what seems to be an obvious landmark on the ground is a much different picture when you’re flying over the area,” said Jamie Knight, aviation operation specialist at ODF.
Fire officials say an increase in fire activity and decrease in personnel are further complicating this year’s fire season, so getting the most out of the fire bosses is that much more important.
“It’s pretty satisfying when we hear that’s right where I wanted it,” said Vance.
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