March 16, 2014

The Erickson Air-Crane: Defending San Diego County Citizens Against Wildfires

By Mike Hampson, owner, Helicopter Links.

Note: The Facebook version with 70 photos is here, or you can read the same Facebook article below:

San Diego, California, USA - Last October, I was invited to see the SDG&E (San Diego Gas & Electric) Erickson Air-Crane (called at the time, now Erickson) firefighting helicopter which was based at Gillespie Field in El Cajon, about 10 miles northeast of the City of San Diego.

The air-crane was leased by San Diego Gas & Electric to help fire suppression efforts during the high-risk fire season in Southern California. San Diego county residents are very lucky that SDG&E is a superb corporate citizen during our fire season.

Most residents know how essential it is to be prepared for fires in San Diego based on several past wild fires such as the Cedar Fire (also known as the "2003 Firestorm") and the October 2007 California Wildfires.

According to Wikipedia, the Cedar Fire “was the largest wildfire in California history, with the possible exception of the Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889. The Cedar Fire burned 280,278 acres (1,134.2 km2) 2,820 buildings (including 2,232 homes) and killed 15 people including one firefighter before being contained on November 3.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_Fire).

The Cedar Fire was many years ago but I still remember seeing the clouds of smoke, breathing smoky air and shocked by seeing the ash falling from the sky like a heavy snow fall in the section of the city where I lived (which was miles away from the actual fire).

Then there were the multiple wildfires in southern California in 2007 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2007_California_wildfires), and the largest fire was called the “Witch Creek Fire.” According to Wikipedia, in San Diego alone, “The four major fires across San Diego County burned nearly 300,000 acres (1,200 km2) and destroyed or damaged 1,350 homes and 100 businesses since October 21, 2007 (and killed 9 people and at least 85 injured).” San Diego is certainly at risk for out of control wildfires.

Back to Gillespie Field, I had the pleasure of interviewing two air-crane helicopter pilots, Dave Bergin and Pete Bradley. Dave has also flown a Blackhawk helicopter in the Army Reserves and Pete has flown the 234 Chinook (civilian version) and the 107 Vertol (the civilian version of the Sea Knight) helicopter in the past. Both pilots were very cordial, straight forward and helpful in explaining how the air-crane is used to fight fires. They told me it takes a total of seven people to typically operate the air-crane: two pilots, three mechanics and two drivers for the service trailer (for fuel and the pod).

Depending upon the job, the number of people needed to operate the air-crane can change. If an engine needs to be changed or the rotorcraft starts flying more, then more mechanics and/or pilots will be increased. Pilots and mechanics are on call for 14 days at a time. Pilots are limited by regulations to a maximum of eight hours flying time per day.

For the San Diego Country fire season, the Erickson air-crane is dispatched by the fire department and works directly with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and the City and County of San Diego. The operating area of the air-crane is for the most part, all of San Diego County. If an emergency would break out just over the county line, there wouldn’t be a problem for them to answer the call.

When the pilots first arrive in San Diego, they will be briefed on communications, hazards, maps and having an orientation to help the pilots understand San Diego air space. They typically fly with a fire rescue helicopter to learn the locations of reservoirs.

At the time of my visit, the air-crane had flown to two fires, the Lions Valley Fire and the Valley Fire. And there had been 4 to 5 dispatches at that time, but several of these calls were cancelled. 1255 is the firefighting squawk and all the air traffic controllers are very helpful getting the air-crane to where it needs to go. The air-crane gets priority when they are going on a mission.

Once the air-crane departs for a fire, the pilots immediately make plans to get fuel. There is 75,000 gallons (283,905 liters) of fuel on the truck. In San Diego, they usually come back to their base for fuel. However, the incident commander wants to know is if the fuel is available because the more time on the fire the more effective they are, according to the pilots.

According to the pilots, when it comes to fighting fires, helicopters are only one tool in the fire commander’s tool box. You can have ten people look at a fire situation and have ten different ways to fight it. It’s complicated and experience counts. Usually there is one fire commander directing everyone.

Some of the variables involved in fighting wildfires includes the nature of the fire, the terrain, wind and if there are people on the ground. A perfect plan can be set into action and then all things change due wind and weather. In the end, the fire fighters on the ground put out the fire, the helicopter pilots explained.

The air-crane has the option for several high-tech water delivery systems. It also has several impressive intake systems as well. The tank can hold a maximum of 2,650 US gallons (10,031 liters) of water or retardant (and retardant is now usually not preferred according to the pilots).

There are several ways to fill the tank: 1) on the ground filling, 2) a “hover snorkel” or 3) a ram scoop hydrofoil attachment. The air-crane tank usually has water ready in its tank for its first run to a fire. In San Diego, they have a procedure that the tank is not completely full while sitting. They fill it to 500 to 600 gallons of water and after their first water drop they fill it again from the field, according to the pilots.

To fill the tank while in flight, there is a high-intake “hover snorkel” which is used to get water from lakes, rivers, ponds or small bodies of water and needs only 18 inches of water for it to work. It fills the tank in a quick
45 seconds. If you notice in the pictures, the snorkel is filled with holes for water intake. I was told the holes, at one time, used to be bigger than the size of a golf ball but they needed to resize the holes to a smaller size, the snorkel was taking in more than just water!

The ram scoop hydrofoil attachment, sometimes called the “ramjet,” is for loading water from the ocean, lakes, rivers, etc. The ramjet can fill the tank in as little as 30 seconds. The ramjet is used for the ocean because they don’t
want the salt water getting into the engines. Air-crane helicopter pilots fly low and fast to reduce salt intake which would occur if they were hovering using the snorkel.

“For extra firefighting power, an optional foam nozzle water cannon mounts on the left-hand side of the cockpit, below the pilot’s side door, offering precision delivery of water or foam-injected water,” according to Erickson’s website; however, the SDG&E helicopter had the tank, snorkel and ramjet attachments only. The water cannon was not attached to the air-crane at the time of my visit.

The tank is computer controlled and has lots of water delivery options. The water can be dribbled at little bit at a time, dribbled over a one mile area or dumped all at once. When opening the tank doors completely, it’s called a “salvo” or the slang phrase is a “water brick” according to Peter. The tank can empty as fast as one and a half seconds.

Fighting fires from above requires a lot of knowledge and skill. The water delivery system is computer controlled and coverage options are from settings 1 through 8. Here are some settings for the tank. Grass fires dial down to a 2 or 3 so water is released slowly. If they must drop water near people they use settings 3 or 4 for safety. For a forest fire, they use 7 or 8. For a hot spot: “Salvo!”

The air-crane has enough fuel for about two hours of flight time at sea level. San Diego is coastal city on the Pacific Ocean, so most of San Diego is nearly at sea level. The air-crane burns over 500 gallons (1,892.7 liters) of
fuel per hour. The air-crane is certified for night vision goggles (NVG) but there is no program for NVG as this time. The pilots like the new glass cockpit verses the steam gauges.

There are now extremely effective apps for flight planning, real-time navigation charts (no need for maps), real-time weather, you punch up an airport with their communications requirements, and it provides fuel prices for the specified area, hotel, rental cars, etc. There are two iPad holders that were recently installed in the aircraft.

In San Diego, the pilots typically use the reservoirs or the ocean to fill their tank. The pilots noted they try to stay away pools and golf courses due to creating a problem with flying debris, but if it’s an extreme emergency, they can hover anywhere to get water.

Before picking up water in the field, they typically run a reconnaissance flight because they know the air-crane downwash is so powerful, it will blow anything off the ground that’s not tied down, such as boards on docks, lawn furniture, or anything light enough which could take flight. If an object is flyable, it will fly when near a hovering air-crane. Pilots are very aware of this and are extremely careful when using the air-crane when picking up water. They have regular safety meetings including going over the effects of the downwash and note if it created the ability of non-flying objects to fly!

Per the pilots, the air-crane is a great tool for slowing the fire down and taking out hot spots, the ground crews ultimately puts out the fire. They typically put retardant and tankers on one side of the fire and the heli-tankers on another side. They generally separate the trucks and the helicopters. This is a hard and fast rule.

At this time, let me say a big thank you to all the crews of the 2013 San Diego air-crane, Erickson, Inc, and San Diego Gas & Electric for keeping San Diego a safe place to live! Both pilots love flying the air-crane and like their jobs. My last question for the pilots, “Do you like being in San Diego?” They both responded with an overwhelming, “Yes.”

End article.

Sources: Erickson pilots, San Diego Gas & Electric’s Media Department, Wikipedia, Erickson website.

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