A news article on the heli I fly fires with......

This helicopter is a great machine and here's another company that swears by them.........

County waits on six fire chopper
Helicopters integral in fighting blazes

By Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Article Launched: 8/21/2006 12:00 AM

RIALTO - The red-and-white helicopter hovered above the shimmering
pond, its spinning rotor blades blowing ripples across the water.

An orange bucket suspended from the aircraft by steel cables dipped
into the pond and slowly submerged as the helicopter descended.

Within seconds, San Bernardino County sheriff's pilot Chuck Abney took
to the skies again.

He steered the Eurocopter AS350 B3 over the wash, swooped over a
narrow, rocky dirt road and with the push of a button, released the
water. It fell from the bucket in a scattered mist, coating the strip
of ground below.

Deputy Al Daniel, also a pilot, stood on the ground below and monitored
Abney's pass over the area south of the Lytle Creek wash that sheriff's
pilots often use for water-dropping exercises.

"That was great!" Daniel mouthed into his handheld radio to the
seasoned pilot of 30 years. "Good job, Chuck!"

In the last year, the Sheriff's Department has acquired five of the
all-purpose Eurocopters at a cost of $2.6 million each. A sixth is
expected to arrive by Aug. 28.

While the primary purpose of the helicopters is air patrol, their
water-dropping capabilities have played a vital role in firefighting
this season and will continue doing so, sheriff's Lt. Tom Hornsby said.

During the recent Sawtooth Complex Fire that scorched more than 62,000
acres near Yucca Valley, the helicopters assisted other aircraft by
dropping thousands of gallons of water in the hottest areas of the
blaze. Abney used the helicopter's advanced mapping system and FLIR
(Forward Looking Infrared) system to trace the footprint of the fire
and pinpoint areas that were burning the hottest. The helicopters have
also responded to other fires this summer in Jurupa Hills and Grand
Terrace.

State-of-the-art aircraft have become instrumental to firefighting in
San Bernardino County, with its steep and rugged mountain terrain that
makes access for firefighters on the ground difficult. The vast expanse
of desert in the Morongo Basin, combined with an assault of lightning
strikes, low humidity and high winds that fanned the Sawtooth blaze,
also created problems for firefighters on the ground and necessitated
use of the aircraft.

The need was so great that for the first time in county history, a
DC-10 jumbo jet that had been converted into an air tanker was brought
in to help. It can hold 12,000 gallons of flame retardant, about 10
times what the average tanker can hold, and can drop four times the
amount of retardant onto a fire in a single pass.

The five Eurocopters have replaced the Sheriff's Department's prior
fleet of EC 120s. The Sheriff's Department also has two Bell UH-1H
Super Huey helicopters and one Bell 212 for aerial firefighting. Each
Super Huey is equipped with a 375-gallon tank for water- and
retardant-dropping operations.

The Bell 212 can drop 350 gallons of water from a Bambi Bucket, a
steel-framed contraption coated with vulcanized rubber that is
suspended from the helicopter by steel cables.

"This is a great firefighting resource," county Fire Chief Pat Dennen
said in a news release. "The helicopter will be available on initial
attack and can make a difference in quickly gaining control of a fire,
which ultimately can result in the saving of lives and property,"

During fire season, the Sheriff's Department contracts with the
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for use of one of
its Super Huey helicopters and a pilot. The helicopter is housed at the
CDF's Prado Camp in Chino during fire season.

Four of the Eurocopters are housed at the sheriff's aviation hangar in
Rialto, while the fifth is at a satellite base in Victorville. If all
goes as planned, the sixth helicopter is expected to arrive next week
from American Eurocopter's manufacturing plant in Grand Prairie, Texas,
Hornsby said.

When it comes to firefighting, the Eurocopters can get to water sources
much faster than an air tanker, and in a matter of seconds, have a
Bambi Bucket loaded with water and ready to drop.

"It'll put a good dent in a fire," sheriff's Sgt. Vince Clancy said of
the Eurocopter.

The Eurocopters are capable of reaching altitudes higher than other
helicopters, and are also used in swift-water rescues,
search-and-rescue operations, and transport, Clancy said.

Sheriff's pilot Abney, who also flies jumbo jets for American Airlines,
noted the Eurocopter AS350 B3 hit historical highs last summer when one
landed atop Mount Everest.

"I've been here since 1981, and we've never had a helicopter that did
everything," Abney said.