Recent map of California Wildfires

Aspiring Fire Pilot

One day I noticed a gentleman walking around the airport holding the hands of two small boys. The boys were very interested in the goings on of the helicopters and I could tell they wanted to get a closer look. I invited them over and met Morgan and Patrick. Morgan eagerly ran up to me and was very happy to be able to climb in to the helicopter.

Morgan gets his very first taste of what it's like to be a helicopter fire pilot.

Fire Recon

The video begins by dropping off a crew member down on the river in preparation for long line back haul work. It then continues on to a recon for line contingency planning.

Flying the Feather

This was a fun job. It consisted of flying 3 man crews into various locations along the Feather river so they could chop trees and brush to make larger, improved helipads for the other helicopters. There is one spot near the end of the video where we landed near a bridge crossing the river. Under the bridge there was a rope so you could swing out and land in the water. This mission took several hours and you can see in the video how the smoke gets thicker and thicker throughout the day.

Spanish Peak

Installing a remote repeater site on Spanish Peak for the Canyon Complex fire near Quincy, California.


SA315B Lama helicopter sitting on top of Spanish Peak, California.


Grey skys and low visibility from the forest fires makes for an interesting flight back to Canyon Helibase in Quincy CA.

Below is a video of our trip flying the Lama helicopter from Spanish Peak and returning to Canyon Helibase at Gansner Airport, Quincy, CA.

Bishop California

After Springville, I flew the Lama helicopter to the Canyon Complex fire in Quincy California. I landed for fuel in Bishop Ca.



The guys at the Bishop Airport were very friendly.

Springerville Arizona

After working with the White Mountain Apache Tribe, I was assigned to Springerville (7000') for a week. There wasn't too much flying, due to afternoon thundershowers, but for the summer time the temps sure were cool.

The SA315B Lama helicopter parked on the helipad at Springerville AZ.