Fire from the sky

Helitorch assignment leads to qualifications for Rx fire missions 

By Isaac Abdala
Senior Firefighter, Heaps Peak Helitack
San Bernardino National Forest
Nov. 7, 2023

Hello, my name is Isaac Abdala and I am a Senior Firefighter for the Heaps Peak Helitack crew in the San Bernardino National Forest. This past October, my Superintendent, Joe Ruiz, and I were requested to join the Keenwild Helitack Crew to the Fishlake National Forest in Utah to support a series of prescribed burn projects. Keenwild is located in the San Jacinto Ranger District of the forest and Heaps Peak falls under the jurisdiction of the Mountain Top district.

Keenwild Helitack has the ability and the qualifications to perform various aerial ignition missions such as helitorch and plastic sphere dispenser operations. Keenwild uses a smaller aircraft compared to the Heaps Peak helicopter. They utilize a Type 3 category Bell 407 model which is a four-rotor blade single engine helicopter. This differs from Heaps Peak’s model, which is a Type 2 category Bell 205 that has two rotors and an upgraded single engine. The difference in size influences their capabilities. The Keenwild aircraft is smaller, but more versatile that makes it effective for burn operations and other mission specific operations.

Their crew is well trained and very knowledgeable about the aerial operation side of fire. They possess the qualifications and the equipment to carry out their mission. They were more than willing to include my superintendent and I on their assignment in Utah.

Helitorch is a burning tool that is extremely effective for providing fire well inside a burn plan’s containment area. It ensures a good intense fire will be ignited, while mitigating a potential risk of ground units being deep within the burn plan. It is a great way to get good fire on efficiently, rapidly and safely.

On the Fishlake National Forest, we were assigned to multiple burn projects such as the Box, South Monroe, and the Salinas Project burn. These plots of land have been prepped, cleared and approved for burning should the weather be seen fit for that particular day. The South Monroe burn in particular was about 50,000 acres and had a goal to burn 60 percent of the 50,000 acres to allow for Aspen tree regeneration in the area. There are other reasons for burning beyond reducing future wildfires. There were also Fire and Smoke Model Evaluation Experiment teams present to study smoke effects, fire behavior and future fire effects of large-scale fires that affect this particular fuel type. They used the newer Unmanned Aircraft Systems and ground-based equipment to gather their own data to be used in conjunction with information from the burn bosses and the forest.

On the South Monroe burn, we dropped 50 total barrels of mix to meet the goals of the 50,000 acre burn. Each barrel is 50 gallons. Those 50 gallons of mixture are comprised of 15 gallons of diesel and 30 gallons of gasoline, with added chemicals of flash ignition to provide a faster combustion rate of the mixture. Five gallons are reserved for the expansion of fumes produced by the chemical mixture. On this burn day we dropped an estimated 1,125 gallons of mixture. We conducted this burn project for two consecutive days, using 25 barrels per day. An estimated 2,250 gallons of mixture were dropped to meet the goal of treating 50,000 acres.“Nearly everyone leaves the festival smiling and having learned at least one new thing,” Miller said. “It's a fun event with music, photo ops with Smokey Bear, and hands-on experiences. It's very family friendly.”

As I mentioned, Keenwild’s crew is qualified to perform helitorch operations, but I was not, and most of my own crew isn’t. I started the assignment as a trainee and am now qualified. We were invited to join the crew to learn, be trained and to become qualified to perform such roles and responsibilities. It will benefit the San Bernardino National Forest Fire and Aviation Management program’s goals for future prescribed fires should they need to burn with helitorch. The forest will now have two local helitack crews more than able to execute the mission. Thank you Keenwild and Fishlake National Forest for this invaluable qualification experience!