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Jayrow's Squirrel lifts the aerial drip torch for igniting backburns and high intensity fires, which uses gelled petroleum. The drum carries 130 litres. (Julian Green)
Aviation in Firefighting
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Aviation I Firefighting – Keeping Small Fires Small
In 1939 nearly one third of Victoria burned during the Black Friday fires that claimed 71 lives and which destroyed hundreds of homes and properties.
The Royal Commission that followed recommended the wider use of aircraft for spotting and containing fires in Victoria, and this recommendation not only recognised the important contribution aircraft had already made since 1925 when the first Westland Wapiti were used in fire spotting, but gave considerable weight to increasing resources directed at limiting the damage that could be caused by future occurrences of widespread uncontrolled fire. Today around eight million hectares, or nearly 38%, of Victoria is covered by national park and state forest. The Department of Conservation & Natural Resources (CNR) is responsible for the management of these and all public lands in Victoria, much of which is in remote and largely inaccessible areas. Though aircraft play a vital role in many areas of the CNR, such as in fisheries surveillance, enforcement, patrol, photography, mapping, resource assessment, construction, spraying and seeding, it is the role of aircraft in firefighting that has allowed the Department to develop the leading aerial firefighting capability in Australia, using aircraft as effective tools to combat wildfire. The Air Operations section, headed by manager Richard Alder, is part of the Fire Management Branch of the Department. Up to 80% of the section’s activities each year are associated with fire suppression, controlled burning and the transport of fire crews. The CNR’s highly developed aerial fire suppression activities include firebombing with fixed and rotary wing aircraft, airborne command, mapping, infrared assessment, transport and utility, rappelling crews into remote areas and aerial ignition for backburning operations.
An effective use of resources
Air Operations employs four full time personnel throughout the year, supplemented by an additional member during high fire risk periods. Fifty full time fire staff, from a total CNR workforce of around 2000, are trained to a specific level of fire competency each year, with 120 of this total workforce trained in aviation management and support roles, brought in from other duties as required during the fire season. The CNR works closely with the Victorian Country Fire Authority (CFA), which is responsible for fire management in all other rural areas not covered by the CNR. Each organisation has well defined responsibilities to ensure that efforts are not duplicated and that communications in crisis situations are controlled and effective. The relationship with the CFA extends to an Integrated Firefighting Aircraft Resource (IFAR) agreement which provides the CFA with access to the CNR’s rotary wing fleet on an as needed basis. The agreement also extends to the fixed wing firebombers on occasion. The IFAR ensures the most efficient use of aircraft and provides better integration of the management of aircraft resources during fire operations without expensive and unnecessary duplication. During operations, pilots work for either the CNR or CFA at any one time, further avoiding any confusion in fire management. Over the four years the IFAR has been existence, the use of aircraft in fire suppression has been overwhelmingly successful, and similar arrangements in other states could well be modelled on this style of agreement in the future. Other countries, including the United States, are studying the CNR/CFA example to alleviate the difficulties involved with interagency resource management. Despite its diverse airborne activities, the CNR does not own any aircraft. Rather, it has developed relationships with contractors to provide the fleet of helicopter and fixed wing aircraft, seeing the advantages of efficiency and comparatively negligible capital cost outweighing any advantage in owning its own fleet. “We believe it is better for people who know the aviation business to supply and operate the aircraft,” Richard Alder explains. “Contracting provides much greater flexibility and reduces our capital expenditure.” Contract agreements also mean that expensive maintenance infrastructure does not have to be borne by the Department and can remain with the aircraft supplier who will already possess or have immediate access to the necessary equipment to perform maintenance, repair and overhaul work. All aircraft and pilots are contracted by the Department, with the majority of contracts valid for three years with the ability to extend as required. Other supplementary aircraft are maintained in the fleet on annual contracts. Given the seasonal nature of the Department’s fire management obligations, a full fleet of aircraft is not required all year round, and the ability to return aircraft to the contractor during off seasons provides the CNR with lower expenditure and the contractor with aircraft to carry out other revenue raising work during the year. A full time fleet of eight fixed wing aircraft is maintained, consisting of five PZL Dromaders, two Turbine Thrushes and one AT-802 AirTractor. Further aircraft are kept on standby during peak season. One Cessna 404 Titan is contracted with Australasian Jet of Essendon for infrared fire scanning duties. The CNR has enjoyed a 20 year relationship with Jayrow for its fleet of light helicopters, who supplies three JetRanger IIIs based at Horsham, Myrtleford and Bairnsdale, and one AS 350 Squirrel based at Moorabbin. The primary duties of the light helos include fire detection and mapping, aerial reconnaissance, aerial command over a fire area, carriage of FLIR (Forward Looking Infra Red) units, backburning with incendiaries and limited firebombing with underslung water buckets. Lloyd Helicopters provides two Bell 212 aircraft based at Benalla and Heyfield, while Jayrow Helicopters in conjunction with Frontier Helicopters of BC Canada has recently been contracted to provide one Bell 205. This aircraft, fitted with an uprated “Dash 17” engine and a new generation belly tank, forms part of a reciprocal fire season deal with Frontier. Fixed wing operations rely on the experience of agricultural pilots, whose existing techniques can readily be used in the similar requirements of fire suppression.
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