Quick Reaction Force on the Caldor Fire with Helitanker 55
When the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) joined the Caldor fire in California in August 2021, it had spread rapidly, and was at zero containment. Ground firefighters and existing aerial assets were focused on protecting communities around the clock.
The Caldor Fire started in the Sierra Nevada mountains on August 14, 2021. It initially burned slowly but expanded in size on August 16 due to high winds and high fuel loads in the area. By that night it was 6,500 acres. Due to the nearby Dixie fire, which was already in excess of 500,000 acres, it was a challenge for the United States Forest Service (USFS) to redirect adequate resources to this new incident.
As conditions became tougher, the QRF program partners of LA, Ventura and Orange counties offered the aerial firefighting force to the USFS and the Coulson Aviation teams were deployed from LA to the Jackson Airbase on Tuesday August 17.
This gave the aircraft and teams of the QRF operating on behalf of the USFS the opportunity for two aerial night fire operation firsts:
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conducting night aerial fire operations using Night Vision Goggles in northern California in a Type 1 helicopter, and
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the world first delivery of fire retardant at night in night aerial fire operations using Night Vision Goggles
The Quick Reaction Force
Operating in the LA Basin since mid-June 2021, the QRF provides day and night aerial firefighting with large helitankers designed to operate as a single force 24/7.
The QRF makeup is two 3000 US gallon Chinook CH47 very large helitankers operating between Orange and LA counties, as well as a Sikorsky S61 large helitanker with a capacity for 1000 US gallons in Ventura County. The fleet is supported by the Coulson Sikorsky S76 Firewatch aerial intelligence gathering helicopter.
One of the principles of the QRF is the ability to deploy quickly, and when the call came for the Caldor fire, the three helitankers lifted and travelled 300+ miles from their respective LA basin air bases, ready to assist the USFS.
The Caldor Fire: Work of Helitanker 55
“The Caldor fire was very challenging due to the weather and limited resources available and when the QRF became involved, it was at zero containment,” Coulson Aviation senior CH47 Helitanker55 pilot Colin Morgan said.
“Initially we were doing a lot of direct structure protection, bouncing from one flare up to the next to protect houses from burning and working with the ground crews who were doing the hard work, literally putting fires out in people’s front yards.”
Operating from the Jackson airbase on August 22nd, Colin’s team on LA County’s Helitanker55, were out for over six hours of very active aerial firefighting.
With conditions predicted to be appropriate for night aerial fire suppression, the team came in for a hot refuel and crew changeover so the night crew could go out during the daylight and familiarize themselves with the fire and area of operations.
Teamwork During a “Hot Swap” (day to night operations)
The crews conducted a “hot swap”, keeping the aircraft running while the aircraft was refuelled, and the day crew conducted their briefings with the night shift crew. This enabled the night shift team to be airborne again within 10 minutes and flying the fire to get an understanding of what the fire was doing and night would bring.
Within the next two hours, the night crew were back for the machine’s mandatory maintenance check before going out again.
The strategy worked and the aerial firefighting was effective. Between both day and night shifts, Helitanker55 delivered 111,500 gallons of water and fire retardant, close to 1 million pounds.
“This was the Coulson team making it happen all at once with the pilots, flight engineers, mechanics, and refuelers — all operating together seamlessly and showing the continuity of being able to fly day and night,” QRF Executive Program Director Craig Lapsley said.
world first retardant DROP AT NIGHT
During the Caldor Fire, the three QRF aircraft were able to switch from using water for point protection to retardant to lay lines, using the Mobile Retardant Base (MRB) that travels with the QRF program.
“When you bring the QRF aircraft together in a coordinated approach you get a far better result, the QRF is a significant force that really does work” Craig said.
“The fact we could deploy the mobile retardant base attached to the QRF, and that could feed the three machines, was significant.”
“The Chinooks are big machines and take a lot of retardant in one fill. When we have all the QRF aircraft are operating from one MRB, the MRB ground crews work extremely hard to keep the supply of water and the retardant mixing system working.”
The helitanker crews were able to use the retardant – including during the night for the first time ever – to create a firebreak, and secure a critical section of fire line that had persistently advanced through the day and this work continued into the night.
Working collaboratively
Colin said the teams all worked well with the other aircraft already deployed on the fire, able to integrate easily with existing air assets and working cooperatively in the big but agile Chinooks.
The QRF exists thanks to Southern Californian Edison which banded together with Orange, Los Angeles and Ventura counties to introduce a collaborative, bold aerial firefighting program designed to provide 24/7 heavy firebombing capability.
The QRF has been operating in the LA Basin since mid-June. Coulson Aviation provides the 4 helicopters that form the QRF operating 24/7 with immediate response, and integrating into the County aerial firefighting plans and working effectively with the County helicopters.