Watching a forest fire
My house is on top of a mountain in North Carolina. Across the river, a mile and a half away, there is a forest fire near the top of another mountain. I can see 8 or 10 trucks of firefighters parked in a meadow just below the fire.
A yellow forest service Huey is dropping water on the fire. The Huey has a big red bucket that is suspended 50 feet below the chopper. The Huey is flying about 100 feet above my house as it goes to the river above Redmon Dam to fill up with water.
In two hours, the Huey has made about 50 trips to dump water on the fire. Still, the fire is getting bigger. Looks like they need another helicopter.
A yellow forest service Huey is dropping water on the fire. The Huey has a big red bucket that is suspended 50 feet below the chopper. The Huey is flying about 100 feet above my house as it goes to the river above Redmon Dam to fill up with water.
In two hours, the Huey has made about 50 trips to dump water on the fire. Still, the fire is getting bigger. Looks like they need another helicopter.
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ALLEN, what national forest are you near[?] cherokee,natahala,pisgah? 0 -
Here's hoping you have favorable winds. 0 -
See that Sherman's March To The Sea last night?
Spoke highly of NC ... and they pretty much
respected N Carolinians they encountered on
their way back up to Richmond.
Didn't know that.0 -
The Pisgah Forest is all around here. There are about 30 little pieces of it, 3 square miles here, 10 square miles there.
This forest fire was on private land, I believe.
They finally got that fire out. That chopper made flights for 5 hours. Damn things must hold a lot of gas.
Then, the chopper landed in that green field where all the firefighters trucks were. He sat there for an hour and a half, I guess to insure that the fire was out. At about 7:00 he took off and flew away.0 -
I think I'd be digging me a fire line around my house if I were you. Good luck. 0 -
I used to be on a fire crew in Montana, forest fires are awesome things. It's like they think. They are scary, and impressive all at the same time. 0 -
ALLEN,I am sure the firefighters have secured a line around it [fire] and will continue to monitor it from the ground providing mop up,ie putting out any hot spots thru the night and tomarrow, that was one of the hardest parts of my job, i loved every min. of it tho,got to fly in a couple hueys, one on a fire in buena vista ,va and one in lagrande, oregon in a wilderness fire on the john day wilderness, it was 100,000 ac + i was there 21 days, oh the old memories![:D], that area you live in [pisgah] is very pretty and great blk bear country [:D] 0 -
quote:Originally posted by LOKO383
ALLEN,I am sure the firefighters have secured a line around it [fire] and will continue to monitor it from the ground providing mop up,ie putting out any hot spots thru the night and tomarrow, that was one of the hardest parts of my job, i loved every min. of it tho,got to fly in a couple hueys, one on a fire in buena vista ,va and one in lagrande, oregon in a wilderness fire on the john day wilderness, it was 100,000 ac + i was there 21 days, oh the old memories![:D], that area you live in [pisgah] is very pretty and great blk bear country [:D]
Did the same back in the late 70's early 80's with CDF here in CA. loved the job!
The only thing I did not like at the time was the CYA (Calif. Youth Athority inmates) Got 8 hours on and off with 3 squares. The fire crews did not!0 -
The door of the Huey was open, and a guy was sitting in the doorway with his legs hanging out. I guess he was operating the water bucket.
How many gallons does that water bucket hold?
At 5:30 this morning I looked across the river and I could see flames!
I called 911. They said that there was still a crew on the fire and they were letting some little patches burn out.0 -
quote:Originally posted by allen griggs
The door of the Huey was open, and a guy was sitting in the doorway with his legs hanging out. I guess he was operating the water bucket.
How many gallons does that water bucket hold?
At 5:30 this morning I looked across the river and I could see flames!
I called 911. They said that there was still a crew on the fire and they were letting some little patches burn out.
yea open door that is a wild ride depending on who your pilot is lol. they have diff. size buckets i have seen 1000 gallon ones that is a lot of weight.they may be using drip torches to back burn or burn areas right up to the lines to get rid of remaining fuels, ie grass,brush, leaves just to be safe, they will be there today mopping up for sure. oh yea and sucking up the ot and hazard pay [}:)][:D]0 -
My brother lives on Slick Rock Mt, near Brevard. How close is that? 0 -
Now theres a job maybe i should get my pilots licence. 0 -
Brevard is 65 miles from here. 0 -
ALLEN, any smoke today? or firefighters on the mnt? 0 -
"they will be there today mopping up for sure. oh yea and sucking up the ot and hazard pay"
Well that explains something. At daybreak there was the slightest amount of smoke. I could not see the small flame that was visible in the dark, a few hours earlier. There were some trucks up there and some firefighters were in the woods.
By about ten o'clock, there were eight firefighters sitting around in that meadow. A couple in the trucks, four side by side on the grass. They were wearing yellow coats.
Those guys sat there all day. At five pm, they loaded up and drove off.
Hitting that hazard pay, I guess.
The fire is all out now, apparently. I will check it out at night with the binoculars, never know what you will see.0
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