K, this is for all you fire pilots, what is your reaction to this article from AvWeb?
Fingerpointing Starts Over Firefighting Helicopter Delays
San Diego politicians say foot-dragging by state officials kept 24 firefighting helicopters on the ground for a full day last week, critically hampering firefighting efforts in the early stages as the blazes gathered strength. The helicopters, operated by the military, were grounded because a state regulation requires that all firefighting choppers have a "fire spotter" on board and there weren't enough available. By the time the helicopters were allowed to take off it was too windy for them to fly. On Wednesday the state waived the regulation but now the heat is on state officials to explain the delay in doing so.
"When you look at what's happened, it's disgusting, inexcusable foot-dragging that's put tens of thousands of people in danger," Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican congressman from California, told the London Daily Telegraph. Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Saturday the state will review its policies. "There are things that we could improve on and I think this is what we are going to do because a disaster like this, you know, really, in the end is a good vehicle, a motivator for everyone to come together," he told a news conference. Two Air National Guard C-130s also sat idle because they haven't yet been retrofitted with fire-retardant tanks.
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/986-full.html#196464
The military are good at what they are trained to do----military stuff, NOT fighting fire. I was working Helco, (basically flying a person who controls the firefighting efforts from the air---just like airtac does---but we control primarily all the helicopters), with the military who were "grounded". During the morning briefing, they freely admitted that most of them had NEVER been near a fire, let alone fly on one.. Most of them had less than 1,000 hours--professional firefighting pilots are required to have a MINIMUM of 1500 hours to get carded, and most companies require more--the company I fly for had a 5,000 hour minimum and the lowest time pilot in the company has over 10,000 hours... The military guys had no clue about black line, head, heel, flank crowning--all normal terms we use. They needed to be "hand held" and follow a "regualar" pilot, even then, we were MORE effective without them. Dont get me wrong--they were great, and still are during the "less critical" phases and mop-up. I am sure I would get in their way if ever they need "fire fighting" pilots to go fight the war in Afganistan.
During the height of the battle, they would have got in the way, (too slow at dipping), and would have been detramental to the fire fighting effort, and would have been a safety hazard by not knowing simple things like the difference between "head" and "heel". During the critical phase of fighting a fire is NOT the time to have in-experienced pilots who need to be hand held flying around too low and "fanning" the fire.
Another way to look at is this---You need brain surgery, there are lots of "heart surgeons and physiciatrists around...would you let them perform the surgery?
