Three helicopters and one air tanker available for the Cold Fire

The Incident Commander ordered two large air tankers but only one was available.

bell 204L4 Custer Airport

Above: a Sky Aviation Bell 206L4 (N482TJ) lands at Custer Airport near a Central Copters K-MAX (N115).

On Saturday when the Cold Fire started 8 miles southeast of Custer, South Dakota, no firefighting aircraft were available. The Incident Commander requested an air attack platform, two National Guard Blackhawk helicopters, two large air tankers, and one light helicopter. Sunday a P2V departed Chattanooga, Tennessee and most likely cruised at about 200 mph until it arrived in Rapid City at about 3 p.m.

ch-47d chinook billings flying service
One of Billings Flying Service’s CH-47D Chinooks, at Custer Airport, April 3, 2016.

The P2V was not used Sunday, in part because the winds were too strong and turbulent. Two National Guard Blackhawk helicopters dropped water Sunday morning. Three privately owned contracted helicopters became available at the Custer Airport: one K-MAX (Central Copters), one CH-47D Chinook (Billings Flying Service), and a Bell 206L4 (Sky Aviation), but only the 206L4 was used. It dropped numerous loads of water Sunday afternoon while we were there.

Chinook Custer airport
One of Billings Flying Service’s CH-47D Chinooks (N561AJ), at Custer Airport, April 3, 2016.

We wrote about the Billings Flying Service Chinooks in 2014 when they became the first civilian operator to obtain CH-47Ds. Gary Blain, a co-owner of the company, and another pilot flew two of them from the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama to the company’s facilities south of Billings, Montana near the Yellowstone River. Two of the company’s CH-47Ds are on federal contract through April 30, 2017.

chinook water bucket
The data plate on the water bucket used by the Chinook.

Anything you do with aircraft is expensive. Mr. Blain said they spent $32,000 for fuel during their two-day trip, with an overnight stopover in Norfolk, Nebraska.

K-MAX custer airport
A Central Copters K-MAX at Custer Airport, April, 3 2016. N115.

We have seen that K-MAX paint job before, but it was on a different K-MAX operated by Central Copters, N414.

When the Chinook arrived at Custer, some of the cargo that was unloaded is in this photo. Can you guess what it was? Let us know in a comment.

Chinook
Cargo unloaded from the Chinook upon arrival at Custer.

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6 thoughts on “Three helicopters and one air tanker available for the Cold Fire”

    1. It did not yesterday. I don’t know about today. Very strong winds are predicted for Tuesday, so they may want to keep it around at least through Wednesday morning in case there are problems on the Cold Fire.

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