|
Bieber Forest Fire Station and Helitack
CAL FIRE uses the UH-1H Super Huey Helicopter for fast initial
attack on wildfires. The copters are able to quickly deliver
a nine-person fire crew wherever needed as well as battle
fires with water/foam drops. The copters are also
used for medical evacuations, backfiring operations on
wildland fires, to ignite prescribed burns using either
a helitorch or a ping-pong ball machine--Chemical Ignition
Device System (CIDS), cargo transport (internal and external
loads), re-seeding operations, infra-red mapping of incidents,
and numerous non-fire emergency missions. Since
1997, CAL FIRE helicopter crews have been trained to do "short
haul" rescues. Short haul involves a crew member
being lowered from a hovering helicopter to an injured
or trapped person below. Once hooked to a harness
or basket, both the victim and crew member are then carried
to a short distance to safety.
Bieber Forest Fire Station is the helitack base for
one of nine helicopters available statewide. Staffing
of the helitack base includes two fire captains and
two pilots. During fire season an additional two
captains, two fire apparatus engineers and nine firefighters
are hired.
|
Careers
With CAL FIRE
