Alaska Army National Guard Black Hawk crews head into day 20 fighting Alaska fires

Photo By Sherman Hogue | This summer has been full of wildfires throughout Alaska. Numerous firefighting teams have been called up from the lower United States to help in the fight. One of the teams that have joined in the fight is a local team, the Alaska Army National Guard. Using two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and Bambi-Buckets, the Alaska Army National Guard teams have been performing firefighting missions in coordination with the Bureau of Land Management, Fire Services based out of Fort Wainwright, Alaska. On Friday, June 26, the team flew their aircraft down to Tok, Alaska, to assist in fighting a few large fires in the area. Using internal aircraft communications, the crew chief Sgt. Philip Peter talked to the pilots Chief Warrant Officer 4 Nyle Harrison and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Molly Reque to guide them onto ponds. From that point the crew used the Bambi-Bucket to gather around 800 gallons of water and fly to the selected area of the fire to extinguish the flames in that location. The dropping of the water could be controlled by either the pilots or the crew chief. The teams worked with the fire mission flight controller, who circled the area in a plane and guided both the helicopters and skimmer aircraft onto flare up areas. Both the helicopters and skimmers took turns bombarding the fire filled trees with water until they reached their flight time limits. (Photo by Sherman Hogue/Fort Wainwright PAO)  

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, ALASKA, UNITED STATES

07.02.2015

Story by Lt. Col. Candis Olmstead 

Alaska National Guard   

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and aircrews from the 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, continue to conduct water bucket drops in support of wildfire suppression efforts in Alaska this week.

“We’ve flown more than 132 hours, dropped over 1,100 buckets of water, and dispensed nearly 900,000 gallons since we began supporting the effort on June 14,” said Lt. Col. Robert Kurtz, the Alaska Army National Guard state aviation officer.

After fighting several fires in the Matanuska Valley and on the Kenai Peninsula, the 1-207 AVN was reassigned on June 22 to support firefighting efforts for the Tetlin Fire near Tok, and fires near Northway, Tanacross and Chena Hot Springs.

“The aircraft and aircrews are basing out of Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks and refueling there and at the Tok airport, depending on which fire they are on,” Kurtz said.

Crews remain on stand-by at Fort Wainwright now, and will continue to provide support as needed.

“With the fire ban and fireworks suspension lifted, there is a heightened concern with the holiday weekend approaching, that we are readily available if we need to respond to a tasking,” said Kurtz.

The 1-207th AVN accepted their first mission to support wildfire suppression efforts on June 14 to fight Willow’s Sockeye Fire. The fire that began that day is now 98 percent contained, and has burned 7,220 acres according to today’s State Emergency Operations Center situation report.

The Black Hawks and aircrew were transferred from the Sockeye effort June 17 and tasked to perform operations on the Kenai Peninsula after several spot fires began due to lightning strikes the prior evening.

The Alaska Army National Guard has 19 Black Hawks that are shared among aviation units in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Bethel, Nome and Juneau. They began water bucket missions to fight fires in the Interior Region with Anchorage and Fairbanks crews, and then added Bethel crews to the rotation.

“We swap crews out once they’ve worked three consecutive days, and we swap aircraft out as needed for unscheduled or routine maintenance,” Kurtz said.

Per their agreement with the Alaska Division of Forestry, the National Guard provides stand-by availability seven days a week for a 12-hour work day, when there is a current request for assistance.

Throughout the firefighting mission, the 1-207 AVN continued to provide multiple daily round-trip transportation support for a federal personnel recovery mission for a crash in 1952 on Colony Glacier. They also provided a medevac for a local U.S. Army Soldier who received minor injuries during a training exercise.

Providing domestic emergency response is part of the National Guard’s dual state and federal mission.

“It’s important to help the state of Alaska and its citizens,” said Kurtz. “It is why many Soldiers join the Guard, and they look forward to opportunities to use their training and skills to serve and protect others.”

• Date Taken: 07.02.2015
• Date Posted: 07.03.2015 00:15
• Story ID: 169024
• Location: JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, ALASKA, US
• Hometown: ANCHORAGE, ALASKA, US
• Hometown: CHENA HOT SPRINGS, ALASKA, US
• Hometown: FAIRBANKS, ALASKA, US
• Hometown: NORTHWAY, ALASKA, US
• Hometown: TOK, ALASKA, US
• Hometown: WASILLA, ALASKA, US