A "Typical" Day in the Life of a Fire Fighting Pilot
Once my plane goes on fire contract, I am assigned to a general region of
the Intermountain West -- usually Nevada, Utah, southern Idaho, or
Colorado. Usually three or four smokejumper planes "cover" this entire
area, so as fires break out we move around to meet the need.
A typical day at work consists of the pilot (me) meeting up with my spotter
and the smokejumpers assigned to the plane. This is normally 10 to 14
jumpers and one spotter. The spotter is an experienced smokejumper who
acts as our supervisor in the field. The spotter calls the local fire dispatch
office and asks if there are any fires for which we may be called. If not, then
the spotter and I will drive to the airport where we work. The jumpers will all
go "PT" -- short for Physical Training. They are very fit, as firefighting is a
physically demanding job.
When the spotter and I reach the airport, I carry my suitcase to the plane
and put it in the baggage compartment. Since we can be sent to any fire,
anywhere in the United States, we cannot leave anything lying around -- we
have to always be "ready to go."
I then preflight the plane, making sure the fuel is the right amount, and that
everything is ready. I check the charts, the plane itself, and leave just the
last few tiedown items on, such as the straps that keep the propellers from
windmilling. When we're told "Fire Call!", I don't want to be wasting any time
on anything unnecessary at the plane. Once the plane is all set, I carry in the
airplane's paperwork and make sure the aircraft logs are correct and all up
to date. This includes a quick check of upcoming major inspections, weekly
inspections, and equipment checks -- everything has to be legal and current.
All this time the spotter is very busy gathering fire intelligence from all over
the country. This includes the fire situation nationally (so we know where
fires are happening), the status of other fire resources nearby and regionally
(helicopters, airtankers, other smokejumper planes, etc.). Local districts
have fire engines and hand crews -- there are many, many varied
firefighters, both on the ground and in the air (like us).
By this time, the smokejumpers (usually around a dozen people or so) are
arriving at the airport. Since we move around the west a lot, we sometimes
have rough, small places in which to standby for fires. We may just rent a
corner of a hangar or sometimes an old building and things can be pretty
primitive. And sometimes we work out of more organized fire bases where
we have all the comforts of a nice office and have room to wait around for
the fires. Usually, though, we stay in some pretty basic places. Since we
can't leave or get very far from the plane, we always carry a lunch with us so
we can stay near the airplane as long as we're asked to. A short day is 9
hours long and a long day is 14 hours long.
When the phone rings and the spotter says "Fire Call!", there's a crazy
flurry of activity. Most of us run to the bathroom (necessary!), then the
jumpers all run to the big tall metal rack that holds up their individual
jumpsuits. The suits are heavy Kevlar and Nomex -- fire-resistant material
that is also puncture-resistant. The suits and all the gear, except the
parachutes themselves, are made by the jumpers -- they are terrific at
sewing everything they need! Each jumper wears heavy boots and a Nomex
layer of fire clothing under the jumpsuit. With their helmets, gloves, and two
parachutes (one main and one reserve), they are putting on 80 pounds of
gear -- it even makes it hard for them to walk to the plane. But they are
very fast and are usually "suited up" within two minutes.
As THEY are quickly donning their gear, I grab my personal items (such as
my phone, book or lunch) and rush to the plane. I have to also wear
fire-retardant clothing, which is in the form of a (hot) flightsuit. Of course,
it's also usually very warm out so we all don't especially love putting on this
extra gear in the heat... the plane can be 120+ degrees inside, too, and we
don't have air conditioning! But they suffer way worse than I do so we just
laugh about it. Anyway, I pull off the prop ties, secure the baggage door,
and hop up in the seat. I start my right engine as fast as I can in order to
recharge the battery after the start.
Usually by now the jumpers (8 total for my plane) and the spotter are
walking toward the plane. They board on the left rear side (the side without
the engine running!) and once all of them have climbed into the plane with
the little step ladder (the last guy grabs the ladder), THEN I can start the
left engine. The spotter crawls his or her way forward up to the cockpit to
sit in the right seat. Since we have the rear door of the airplane removed (it
comes off in April, and gets put back on in October), it is very noisy so we
communicate over an intercom using headsets.
The Twin Otter carries 8 smokejumpers (averaging 275 pounds each with all
that hot gear on!), the spotter, the pilot, and all the supplies for eight
people to fight fire for two days without needing any resupply. This includes
cargo boxes that hold water, food, sleeping bags, digging tools, shovels,
radios, radio batteries, chainsaws, gas and oil for the saws, and other
miscellaneous supplies. The cargo boxes weigh from 50 to 80 pounds, and
each box has its own little parachute. Since we carry so much stuff INSIDE
the plane, we can only carry enough fuel for 2.5 hours of flying. If the fire is
very far away, sometimes we have to stop on the way to the fire to get
more fuel.
When we arrive at the fire site we will coordinate over the radio with other
aircraft (if there are any) and we also talk to the people on the ground (if
there are any). Since we often go to very remote places we may be the only
people there. Sometimes on busier fires we may be just one of 4 to 8
aircraft. This takes a lot of coordination and is challenging but is a lot of fun,
too. We fly over the smoke and get a fire "size-up." This information
includes the size, the elevation, the fire behavior, the weather conditions
(wind, etc.), slope, the fuel type(s), and the fire's potential. The spotter
plots the fire on a map and gives that info to the jumpers and then calls in
the "size-up" to the local fire dispatch office over the radio. They then tell us
whether to take action (jump it), or not (if engines are driving in along a
road, for example, they may not need us).
Each fire is different, and agencies strive to do the most efficient thing to
suppress them. If we're told to staff the fire, the spotter and I choose a
likely "jumpspot," looking out the front as we do the size-up. Usually a small
opening or clearing is plenty for the smokejumpers to land in with their
parachutes. Once we agree, the spotter hangs up his or her headset and
then climbs back over the crowded mass of the jumpers' legs and feet to
take up position in the back of the plane. He or she will put on the helmet in
the back so we can keep talking to each other and kneels on a pad on the
floor, looking out the open (missing) door.
As the spotter "goes to the back," I am descending from about 1000 to
1500 feet AGL (above ground level), down to about 200 or 300 feet above
the ground and I try to time this descent so that we are turning in toward
the jumpspot just as the spotter gets comfortable in the open door. This is
the "low pass." This is so everyone about to jump can SEE the spot close
up to look for hazards such as big boulders, barbed wire fences, etc. As
they are looking, I am figuring the ground elevation by using my altimeter,
which measures atmospheric pressure, and also the radio altimeter, which
measures height above the ground. Some quick math gives me the ground
elevation of the spot, which I tell to the spotter.
We then climb 1500 feet above THAT and the spotter throws out streamers
-- ten-foot-long streamers of bright crepe paper. They are weighted with
sand to fall the 1500 feet to the ground at the same rate as a 275-pound
smokejumper. He or she tells me "streamers away" as he (she) throws them
over the spot. We then circle them, still at 1500 feet, and watch where they
go and how they act. This tells us the wind direction and the drift, and also
if it is "up" air or "down" air. If the streamers are acceptable, we then climb
1500 more feet so that we're 3000 feet over the spot we picked out.
The jumpers go out the door two at a time, normally. Dropping all eight
takes four passes but if the fire is small sometimes only 2 or 4 are needed
to put it out. Once they land in the spot, they call up to the plane on their
radios and tell us they are "ready for cargo." The spotter works hard to
unhook all the needed cargo boxes and hooks them up to their parachutes
(so they will open), and then as I line up over the spot the spotter throws
them out the door on my command.
The calls are: "On final... short final... standby... KICK!" Usually one 80-lb.
box and one 50-lb. box can go out at once. It is a lot of work for the
spotter, trying to balance heavy boxes in the open door of the plane,
especially if the air is turbulent (which is almost always is). The cargo is
dropped at 150 feet above the ground so sometimes the air is very, very
rough. The spotter has a nylon webbing harness over his or her flightsuit
with a hook that is tethered into the airplane. This is so they don't fall out!
When we're all done with the cargo operations, we check to be sure they
don't need anything else before we fly away and leave them out on the top
of a mountain or otherwise in the middle of nowhere. Then we call dispatch
to report that we have their fire staffed and then fly back to the closest
airport for jet fuel. When we land at the usual (jumper) base we're using,
the spotter immediately restocks the plane with cargo as I fuel and do the
post- and next pre-flight. We're usually ready for another fire within 30
minutes.
The next bunch of jumpers then gets THEIR gear all ready by putting on
their boots and Nomex and is now the NEW load of jumpers that will go to
the next fire. Once the fire we staffed is out those jumpers hike to the
nearest road (carrying all that gear now on their backs) and they usually get
picked up in a truck and driven back to the airport. If they are really
fortunate, they will get flown off the fire by helicopter. Their "packout" gear
usually weighs 115-130 pounds total, so a ride is welcomed.
There's no specific school for this type of training; most pilots start out in
other fire jobs, often flying detection or "air attack" planes that fly high over
a fire to help coordinate the fire missions. Once they get some knowledge of
the fire system and how it works, often the company that hires them will
provide the specific training. Many times a new pilot will fly in the left seat as
an older, experienced pilot sits in the right seat simulating fire operations.
Any new pilot hired to work on a smokejumper contract would then have to
go through a bit of extra training with the actual smokejumpers to learn the
jumping procedures. The company that does the hiring would have to pay
for this extra bit of training and the government oversees the training
schedule to make sure certain items are covered.
Once my plane goes on fire contract, I am assigned to a general region of
the Intermountain West -- usually Nevada, Utah, southern Idaho, or
Colorado. Usually three or four smokejumper planes "cover" this entire
area, so as fires break out we move around to meet the need.
A typical day at work consists of the pilot (me) meeting up with my spotter
and the smokejumpers assigned to the plane. This is normally 10 to 14
jumpers and one spotter. The spotter is an experienced smokejumper who
acts as our supervisor in the field. The spotter calls the local fire dispatch
office and asks if there are any fires for which we may be called. If not, then
the spotter and I will drive to the airport where we work. The jumpers will all
go "PT" -- short for Physical Training. They are very fit, as firefighting is a
physically demanding job.
When the spotter and I reach the airport, I carry my suitcase to the plane
and put it in the baggage compartment. Since we can be sent to any fire,
anywhere in the United States, we cannot leave anything lying around -- we
have to always be "ready to go."
I then preflight the plane, making sure the fuel is the right amount, and that
everything is ready. I check the charts, the plane itself, and leave just the
last few tiedown items on, such as the straps that keep the propellers from
windmilling. When we're told "Fire Call!", I don't want to be wasting any time
on anything unnecessary at the plane. Once the plane is all set, I carry in the
airplane's paperwork and make sure the aircraft logs are correct and all up
to date. This includes a quick check of upcoming major inspections, weekly
inspections, and equipment checks -- everything has to be legal and current.
All this time the spotter is very busy gathering fire intelligence from all over
the country. This includes the fire situation nationally (so we know where
fires are happening), the status of other fire resources nearby and regionally
(helicopters, airtankers, other smokejumper planes, etc.). Local districts
have fire engines and hand crews -- there are many, many varied
firefighters, both on the ground and in the air (like us).
By this time, the smokejumpers (usually around a dozen people or so) are
arriving at the airport. Since we move around the west a lot, we sometimes
have rough, small places in which to standby for fires. We may just rent a
corner of a hangar or sometimes an old building and things can be pretty
primitive. And sometimes we work out of more organized fire bases where
we have all the comforts of a nice office and have room to wait around for
the fires. Usually, though, we stay in some pretty basic places. Since we
can't leave or get very far from the plane, we always carry a lunch with us so
we can stay near the airplane as long as we're asked to. A short day is 9
hours long and a long day is 14 hours long.
When the phone rings and the spotter says "Fire Call!", there's a crazy
flurry of activity. Most of us run to the bathroom (necessary!), then the
jumpers all run to the big tall metal rack that holds up their individual
jumpsuits. The suits are heavy Kevlar and Nomex -- fire-resistant material
that is also puncture-resistant. The suits and all the gear, except the
parachutes themselves, are made by the jumpers -- they are terrific at
sewing everything they need! Each jumper wears heavy boots and a Nomex
layer of fire clothing under the jumpsuit. With their helmets, gloves, and two
parachutes (one main and one reserve), they are putting on 80 pounds of
gear -- it even makes it hard for them to walk to the plane. But they are
very fast and are usually "suited up" within two minutes.
As THEY are quickly donning their gear, I grab my personal items (such as
my phone, book or lunch) and rush to the plane. I have to also wear
fire-retardant clothing, which is in the form of a (hot) flightsuit. Of course,
it's also usually very warm out so we all don't especially love putting on this
extra gear in the heat... the plane can be 120+ degrees inside, too, and we
don't have air conditioning! But they suffer way worse than I do so we just
laugh about it. Anyway, I pull off the prop ties, secure the baggage door,
and hop up in the seat. I start my right engine as fast as I can in order to
recharge the battery after the start.
Usually by now the jumpers (8 total for my plane) and the spotter are
walking toward the plane. They board on the left rear side (the side without
the engine running!) and once all of them have climbed into the plane with
the little step ladder (the last guy grabs the ladder), THEN I can start the
left engine. The spotter crawls his or her way forward up to the cockpit to
sit in the right seat. Since we have the rear door of the airplane removed (it
comes off in April, and gets put back on in October), it is very noisy so we
communicate over an intercom using headsets.
The Twin Otter carries 8 smokejumpers (averaging 275 pounds each with all
that hot gear on!), the spotter, the pilot, and all the supplies for eight
people to fight fire for two days without needing any resupply. This includes
cargo boxes that hold water, food, sleeping bags, digging tools, shovels,
radios, radio batteries, chainsaws, gas and oil for the saws, and other
miscellaneous supplies. The cargo boxes weigh from 50 to 80 pounds, and
each box has its own little parachute. Since we carry so much stuff INSIDE
the plane, we can only carry enough fuel for 2.5 hours of flying. If the fire is
very far away, sometimes we have to stop on the way to the fire to get
more fuel.
When we arrive at the fire site we will coordinate over the radio with other
aircraft (if there are any) and we also talk to the people on the ground (if
there are any). Since we often go to very remote places we may be the only
people there. Sometimes on busier fires we may be just one of 4 to 8
aircraft. This takes a lot of coordination and is challenging but is a lot of fun,
too. We fly over the smoke and get a fire "size-up." This information
includes the size, the elevation, the fire behavior, the weather conditions
(wind, etc.), slope, the fuel type(s), and the fire's potential. The spotter
plots the fire on a map and gives that info to the jumpers and then calls in
the "size-up" to the local fire dispatch office over the radio. They then tell us
whether to take action (jump it), or not (if engines are driving in along a
road, for example, they may not need us).
Each fire is different, and agencies strive to do the most efficient thing to
suppress them. If we're told to staff the fire, the spotter and I choose a
likely "jumpspot," looking out the front as we do the size-up. Usually a small
opening or clearing is plenty for the smokejumpers to land in with their
parachutes. Once we agree, the spotter hangs up his or her headset and
then climbs back over the crowded mass of the jumpers' legs and feet to
take up position in the back of the plane. He or she will put on the helmet in
the back so we can keep talking to each other and kneels on a pad on the
floor, looking out the open (missing) door.
As the spotter "goes to the back," I am descending from about 1000 to
1500 feet AGL (above ground level), down to about 200 or 300 feet above
the ground and I try to time this descent so that we are turning in toward
the jumpspot just as the spotter gets comfortable in the open door. This is
the "low pass." This is so everyone about to jump can SEE the spot close
up to look for hazards such as big boulders, barbed wire fences, etc. As
they are looking, I am figuring the ground elevation by using my altimeter,
which measures atmospheric pressure, and also the radio altimeter, which
measures height above the ground. Some quick math gives me the ground
elevation of the spot, which I tell to the spotter.
We then climb 1500 feet above THAT and the spotter throws out streamers
-- ten-foot-long streamers of bright crepe paper. They are weighted with
sand to fall the 1500 feet to the ground at the same rate as a 275-pound
smokejumper. He or she tells me "streamers away" as he (she) throws them
over the spot. We then circle them, still at 1500 feet, and watch where they
go and how they act. This tells us the wind direction and the drift, and also
if it is "up" air or "down" air. If the streamers are acceptable, we then climb
1500 more feet so that we're 3000 feet over the spot we picked out.
The jumpers go out the door two at a time, normally. Dropping all eight
takes four passes but if the fire is small sometimes only 2 or 4 are needed
to put it out. Once they land in the spot, they call up to the plane on their
radios and tell us they are "ready for cargo." The spotter works hard to
unhook all the needed cargo boxes and hooks them up to their parachutes
(so they will open), and then as I line up over the spot the spotter throws
them out the door on my command.
The calls are: "On final... short final... standby... KICK!" Usually one 80-lb.
box and one 50-lb. box can go out at once. It is a lot of work for the
spotter, trying to balance heavy boxes in the open door of the plane,
especially if the air is turbulent (which is almost always is). The cargo is
dropped at 150 feet above the ground so sometimes the air is very, very
rough. The spotter has a nylon webbing harness over his or her flightsuit
with a hook that is tethered into the airplane. This is so they don't fall out!
When we're all done with the cargo operations, we check to be sure they
don't need anything else before we fly away and leave them out on the top
of a mountain or otherwise in the middle of nowhere. Then we call dispatch
to report that we have their fire staffed and then fly back to the closest
airport for jet fuel. When we land at the usual (jumper) base we're using,
the spotter immediately restocks the plane with cargo as I fuel and do the
post- and next pre-flight. We're usually ready for another fire within 30
minutes.
The next bunch of jumpers then gets THEIR gear all ready by putting on
their boots and Nomex and is now the NEW load of jumpers that will go to
the next fire. Once the fire we staffed is out those jumpers hike to the
nearest road (carrying all that gear now on their backs) and they usually get
picked up in a truck and driven back to the airport. If they are really
fortunate, they will get flown off the fire by helicopter. Their "packout" gear
usually weighs 115-130 pounds total, so a ride is welcomed.
There's no specific school for this type of training; most pilots start out in
other fire jobs, often flying detection or "air attack" planes that fly high over
a fire to help coordinate the fire missions. Once they get some knowledge of
the fire system and how it works, often the company that hires them will
provide the specific training. Many times a new pilot will fly in the left seat as
an older, experienced pilot sits in the right seat simulating fire operations.
Any new pilot hired to work on a smokejumper contract would then have to
go through a bit of extra training with the actual smokejumpers to learn the
jumping procedures. The company that does the hiring would have to pay
for this extra bit of training and the government oversees the training
schedule to make sure certain items are covered.
 |
| Using aviation to entertain and educate girls about their limitless opportunities... |
| Using aviation to entertain and educate girls about their limitless opportunities... |
| Using aviation to entertain and educate girls about their limitless opportunities... |
TM
| Using aviation to entertain and educate girls about their limitless opportunities... |
| Using aviation to entertain and educate girls about their limitless opportunities... |
| Using aviation to entertain and educate girls about their limitless opportunities... |
TM
| Some of the mountains in western Montana |
| At the gas pumps! |
| One of my favorite pictures of my favorite airplane. |
| Since thunderstorms bring lightning, and lightning brings new fires, we fly around a lot of bad weather during fire season. This is in Nevada: |
| Headed out to reported fires in California. |
| Enroute to a fire in Nevada. |
| During fire season, ALWAYS refrain from flying over or through any smoky areas -- the airspace over even a small fire can be full of airplanes and helicopters already fighting the fire. Here, we've arrived over our fire and have started our descent into the area to look for a suitable landing spot for the smokejumpers, called a "jump spot". |
| It can get really smoky. |
| Sometimes it's really, REALLY smoky. |
| I think we get to see lots of pretty things when we fly.... Here's a sunset... I had just tied the plane down for the night. |
| This is a late-in-the-day fire dispatch in Colorado... the colors get so pretty when the sun gets lower. |
| Parked at a small paved strip in Idaho. |
| A co-worker landing his airplane at the same small paved runway (with a slope) in Idaho. |
| From a training jump day -- it was windy and chilly, and pretty! |