Photo By Master Sgt. Joseph Prouse | U.S. Air Force pararescueman assigned with the 131st Rescue Squadron, 129th Rescue...... read more read more
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by Master Sgt. Joseph Prouse
129th Rescue Wing Public Affairs
Sept. 7, 2022
WEED, Calif. – Cal Guard's 129th Rescue Wing recently deployed an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter crew and two pararescuers to Siskyou County as part of the wing's medical evacuation alert mission during major fire incidents.
The helicopter crew deployed to the Weed Airport, which serves as the helibase where air assets are directed to the fire incidents in the county. At present, the helibase is predominantly supporting the Mill and Mountain fires.
The wing provides twenty-four hour response capability for firefighters in the event of an emergency that requires rapid insertion of medics or hoist capability for mid-air medical treatment and medevac to additional medical treatment.
U.S. Air Force Maj. Ben Copley, of the 129th Rescue Squadron, serves as the activation's aircraft commander and said a good day is a quiet day.
"In the rescue world, a good day is when we don’t get called to respond to an injury or other emergency, but we are always ready and willing to respond in a moments notice in the event that someone needs our assistance," Copley said.
The crew will spend a week on this incident, or longer, as needed.
Weather or containment of the fire can impact the scale of the response may dictate the need for crew swaps. Military flight crews typically do a week on an incident and then swap out with another crew.
“Fresh crews are the key to maintaining a high level of alertness and performance critical to the success of of saving lives day and night in extreme fire conditions," said Col. Victor Teal, Jr., wing commander. "We strive to provide regular rotations when able to keep crews healthy and share the load. We continually coordinate with our fire fighting partners and incident commanders on rotations to ensure peak effectiveness and efficiency throughout the force."
Each crew is augmented by an integrated crew member from Cal Fire, called a military helicopter manager. The manager's role is essential to the success and safety of all military aircraft assigned to a fire incident. The manager remains in constant communication between the incident commanders and ground crews to ensure safety and effective use of the aircraft on an incident.
Frank Podesta, a 40-plus year veteran for Cal Fire who is assigned as the military helicopter manager for the 129th medevac crew, shared his thoughts on using the Air Guard crew and aircraft.
“I really enjoy working alongside these Air Guard members," Podesta said. "They know how to maneuver that aircraft expertly and most of them have deployment experience."
"Understanding fire behavior and coordination of the incident commander's intent and how that impacts the firefighters digging lines is my job, and all from 500ft above ground level moving at more than hundred miles per hour," Podesta explained.
The job of protecting life and property is taken seriously by Cal Fire, and the rescue mission motto "that others may live" are seamlessly woven together. The partnership between agencies ensures Californians have the greatest chance of safety and home protection during the state's prolonged fire season.
| Date Taken: | 09.07.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 09.14.2022 13:46 |
| Story ID: | 428863 |
| Location: | WEED, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 31 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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