Klump Pump Takes Flight
The engines are headquartered in Forbestown, Calif. — available on a "call-when-needed" basis — and are budgeted through emergency firefighting funds. Drivers are on-deck around the clock. Units generally can be on site within hours of an initial request, but pre-positioning in perennial hotspots is recommended,
The unit comes complete with everything in one package, serviced and ready to go. A standard hose and fitting complement makes planning by fire overhead much easier. It is not meant to replace standard tank-pumping systems, but rather to buy time to set them up, protecting the fire line until a conventional system can be put into place. A half hour from the helibase and these units are pumping water.
"My machine buys them time to put their own system in," Klump says. "When they get their units in place, we can take the water from my machine and straight-stream the first load into the Fol-Da-Tank — if it doesn't have some weight in the tank, it'll blow off the hillside when the first bucket of water hits it. When their system is up and running, my machine can move on to the next hot spot."
A single Uni-Engine has the capability of protecting an extensive fire line. Its hose complement consists of 1,000 feet of 1½-inch lightweight hose, 800 feet of 1-inch hose, 400 feet of ¾-inch pencil line, and the appropriate fittings to accommodate a 1,000-foot trunk line lay.
"One of the things about wildland firefighters is they're very good at improvising," Klump says. "One machine sitting on the line basically covers 2,000 feet of 1½-inch trunk line, because you lay it out and go in one direction, and as the fire passes and you're dragging fire, burning out or mopping up, you start bumping hose to the other side."
Designing a unit that was aerodynamically sound was a challenge.
"We didn't know what the aerodynamic characteristics of the machine would be," Klump says. "We picked it up and flew it at 80 miles per hour, and it flew stable. Because it was designed on a certain balance pivot point, when it gets above 30 to 35 miles per hour, it begins to fly aerodynamically — no yawing, no swaying; it tucks right under and flies good. The key is to get it over 30-35 to take the waltz out of it. It flies well at 80 knots under most conditions."
Fully outfitted, the machine weighs less than 1,600 pounds, but there are 450 pounds of gear that can be taken out and moved in a separate trip. Most Type 3, or light turbine, helicopters can haul it in two loads instead of one.
Pilot Ron Chaplin of PJ Helicopters was involved in the testing of the first unit and later had the opportunity to fly the machine on the Bar Fire near Weaverville, Calif. "I test-flew the machine with a UH-1 [Huey] on a 100-foot-long line. It passed with flying colors — very smooth with no bucking or spinning in flight."
Sandra Manning is a freelance writer and editor from Northern California. Following an early retirement from the Los Angeles Times, she spent 10 years writing for both national and regional magazines and newspapers. Living in a thickly forested region of the Sierra foothills, wildfires are a constant concern for Manning, who is a member of the North San Juan Women's Volunteer Fire Auxiliary. She has written many articles on environmental issues, fire safety and prevention.
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