Air Attack
Occupying about 500,000 acres at the base of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, Boulder County, Colo., experiences an average of 100 fire starts per year. Over the past 15 years, the county has seen a number of major wildland fires, and until 2001, held the Colorado record for structural losses from wildland fires. This was due largely to the 1989 Black Tiger Fire, which claimed 44 homes, and the 1990 Olde Stage Fire, which took 10 homes.
In January 2001, the City of Boulder Department of Public Works Utilities Division, asked Boulder Fire & Rescue Wildland Fire Division Chief Marc Mullenix to develop recommendations on how to best protect the city's water supplies from significant wildland fire effects.
Along with recommendations for forest health assessments and hazard mitigation, Mullenix advised that the only efficient way to overcome problems such as accessibility to difficult terrain, extended response time to remote areas, and the mixture of jurisdictions would be to provide a helicopter equipped for initial fire attack. He explained that there was a critical 30-minute window in which to provide initial attack to wildland fire starts in this area. After that time, the risk of a fire developing into a significant incident — in Boulder County, greater than 100 acres in size — increases dramatically.
On Aug. 1, 2001, a prototype air support program, Boulder Interagency Air Operations, launched a 30-day trial run. The program was renamed Rocky Mountain Interagency Helitack on June 1, with a planned operating period of 120 days. However, there were several major challenges in establishing local, dedicated air support for firefighting operations.
In most of western Boulder County, rapid response is hindered by distance, poor vehicle access, difficult terrain and variable volunteer response times. Also, under the federal resource allocation system, the priority assigned to a local fire will vary depending on the national situation. “Air support is a finite commodity,” says Mullenix. “At the height of the fire season, air support resources are usually fully committed.”
The county population increased 29% between 1990 and 2000, creating increased mountain development and recreational pressures throughout the area. Fire protection within unincorporated portions of the county is provided by a network of fire protection districts, most of which have volunteer fire departments. Rural and suburban development in the mountains has been extensive, and the area faces serious wildland-urban interface challenges.
Fire seasons vary in timing and duration, but the usual high fire-danger season extends from June through September. During this time, fires are caused by human carelessness, arson and dry lightning. The region is semi-arid, with an annual average of 19 inches of precipitation.
In May 2001, after the City of Boulder agreed to contribute to the air program but declined to sponsor it, Mullenix switched his focus to the development of an interagency air support program, available to the entire county and supported by government agencies, businesses and the private sector.
“The interagency concept made much more sense,” says Mullenix. “By broadening the scope of the program to a county level, and by making the program available to law enforcement, search-and-rescue and project assignments as well as fire, we expanded its utility to the community.”
The program administration was transferred to the Boulder County Wildland Fire Cooperators, a subgroup of the Boulder County Firefighters' Association. BCFFA is a not-for-profit group which qualifies for 501(c)(3) status with the Internal Revenue Service, making contributions tax-deductible.
A five-member governing board was selected to guide the program. Board members include representatives of Boulder County fire and sheriff's departments, the National Park Service and the Colorado State Forest Service. The board is responsible for developing the program's operations plan, oversight of all program activities, and approval of requests for initial attack or extended availability.
The program is operated in accordance with the Boulder County Annual Operating Plan, which provides the standard operating procedures, mutual policies and responsibilities to implement cooperative wildland fire suppression on all lands within the county. Resource requests within Boulder County are made through the Boulder Regional Communications Center, a division of the Boulder County Sheriff's Department. Resource requests from outside Boulder County are made through the appropriate interagency dispatch center.
RMIH supplements the federal aviation resources available within the State of Colorado and the state's single-engine air tanker program.
The most cost-efficient route to obtain funding for a start-up program was to enter into an exclusive-use agreement with a vendor for helicopter, pilots, mechanics and fuel trucks. This method is used by federal and state government agencies to meet their aviation resource needs.
In this agreement, the vendor is paid a daily availability fee for exclusive use of the ship, and flight time is billed over and above the daily availability charges.
The group developed a three-pronged approach to program support. Agencies with land management responsibilities were asked to contribute money to the program to cover a portion of the program's daily availability charges. For the 2001 trial run, five agencies contributed a total of approximately $50,000. This year, contributions of approximately $160,000 have been received from 12 agencies, organizations and individuals.
Commitments to support the program through use also were pursued. Rocky Mountain National Park committed to using Rocky Mountain Interagency Helitack in search-and-rescue missions during the summer of 2002. Boulder Fire & Rescue will use the program when needed for fires within the city's open space and mountain park network.
RMIH makes its program available to program cooperators at very close-to-the-contract rates, thereby providing substantial savings compared to call-when-needed rates charged by vendors. This year, the call-when-needed rates in Colorado are approximately 175% of the RMIH contract rates and require a minimum two-hour guarantee.
Fire departments in Boulder County also are asked to contribute staff. The program was staffed entirely by these volunteers during 2001. During 2002, RMIH hired one employee.
The pool of helicopters is limited, and vendors strive to have their inventory under contract for the majority of the year. To ensure availability, a contract needs to be in place well in advance of the fire season. “We had to commit a whole bunch of money we didn't have in hand yet, and commit to a contract period months in advance based upon a guess of what our fire season would be like,” says Mullenix. “We were counting on reimbursement for fire assignments to meet the contract costs not covered through contributions. I had to take a deep breath and close my eyes to sign that first contract. A nagging voice in my head kept asking, ‘What if it rains all summer?’”
Chief Mike Tombolato of the neighboring Cherryvale (Colo.) Fire Protection District, with more than 20 years of experience in the aviation end of firefighting, has the answer. “When Boulder County has a quiet fire season, someplace else in the state or the country will be having problems. The program had to be certified for federal agency use and available to assist in the national wildland fire suppression effort. That way, even if we didn't have a single lightning strike, the program could still pay its way.”
The Interagency Helicopter Operations Guide specifies the standards that must be met by all helicopters used by the federal government. The manual contains more than 400 pages of exacting standards and requirements for everything from personnel qualifications and experience to requirements for equipment, operations planning, flight following, and facility and equipment inspection. The purpose of IHOG is to maximize the safety and efficiency of helicopter operations in firefighting. “We'd follow IHOG even if we never left Boulder County, because safety is our number one priority,” says Tombolato.
Fortunately for Boulder County and unfortunately for the trial-run period in 2001, the county did experience a very cool, wet summer. Subsequently, the program joined the national fire suppression effort and saw two weeks of duty in Montana. In addition to the valuable experience gained by the crew, reimbursements for the two-week assignment and 65 hours of flight time covered about 80% of the 30-day program costs. Fire season 2002 has been a different story. As of July 4, RMIH had been on federal or state fire assignments within Colorado for 23 of 33 days and had logged 106 hours of flight time.
The board of directors has the responsibility for determining, based on local conditions and fire danger, whether the program is available for assignment outside Boulder County, the front range of Colorado or the state of Colorado. “The program sponsors expect the ship to be available locally when needed,” explains Mullenix. “It can become a real balancing act to make sure the program is keeping revenues up and meeting expectations for local coverage.”
Mullenix has been a wildland firefighter for 22 years and is a Type II incident commander, operations section chief and safety officer. His knowledge and experience led him to choose the Aerospatiale 315B Lama due to its excellent lift ability at high altitudes.
The Lama holds the record for highest landing and take off at 24,600 feet in the Himalayas. It also set the absolute altitude record for a helicopter at 40,820 feet. “It's slow, noisy and not very comfortable on the long haul,” says helicopter manager Mark Balch. “But I prefer knowing we can get the water, or the people, or whatever safely to a fire at our elevations and in our hot summer weather.”
The ship has lived up to its reputation. At the Rio Grande Complex Fire in the Rio Grande National Forest in June 2002, the ship was used to establish repeater sites at elevations up to 13,000 feet. In July, the ship was able to continue working at temperatures and elevations that grounded a Type 2 Bell 212 assigned to the Big Elk Fire near Estes Park, Colo.
Geo-Seis Helicopters Inc. of Fort Collins, Colo., has been the vendor of choice for both 2001 and 2002 due to their pilot and mechanic qualifications, their outstanding safety record, their willingness to work with the start-up program, and their service commitments. Geo-Seis normally offers scheduled maintenance and usually provides non-scheduled maintenance during non-working hours or provides a replacement ship.
The program has been fortunate to have regular pilot Gordon Knight both years. “We really rely on Gordon's skill, good judgment and outstanding safety record,” says Mullenix. “Gordon has become a member of our firefighting family.” Knight was directly credited with saving homes during the June 2002 Million Fire in Rio Grande County, Colo.
With the switch to interagency focus, the program gained the Cherryvale Fire Protection District and Boulder Mountain Fire Authority as allies. These two agencies, along with Boulder Fire & Rescue, would be critical to supplying crew and management to the program.
Training was the first thing accomplished. In 2001, an S270 (Basic Air Operations) and two S217 (Interagency Helicopter Crew Member) classes were offered by the Boulder County Wildland Fire Cooperators prior to the commencement of the program. S217 was offered again in 2002. A total of 115 students have attended these training sessions.
Boulder County has many firefighters qualified as helicopter crew members, but the key to continued staffing is to include and certify trainees. In return for receiving S217 training, participants were obligated to volunteer for at least one shift. During the 2001 trial run, there were more volunteers than there were shifts available, and the program welcomed a different crew composition on a daily basis. “We're a relatively small group in Boulder County. We all know each other and have worked together,” says Tombolato.
Trainees are placed with an experienced helicopter manager and helitack crew on all shifts. Trainees have the opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience and complete their task books. The program has produced 10 carded helicopter crew members to date. Helicopter managers and crew members are among the most in-demand firefighter employment positions nationwide, and trainees gain valuable training and experience while contributing to the program.
IHOG requires that the program is always staffed with a qualified helicopter manager, and full certification can take years to achieve. Experienced helicopter managers Tombolato and Balch filled the position for the majority of the 2001 program trial. Of course, this often meant extra work as they had their routine duties to perform as well. In 2002, RMIH hired Helicopter Manager Bruce Dissel for the anticipated 120-day program. Tombolato and Balch, along with Boulder Fire & Rescue's Greg Toll, fill in as needed to allow the program to operate seven days a week while conforming to IHOG duty limitations.
Dissel prefers to work with a smaller pool of crew members whom he can count on to be familiar with his style, the ship and the mission. While this approach has worked this year, the more experienced crew members and fire departments are feeling the strain of staffing the program. Managers and crew members are all aware of the scrutiny the program is under and the effect program performance will have on future funding. To date, the program and crew have received outstanding evaluations in terms of knowledge, performance, attitude, decisions under stress, initiative, consideration for personnel welfare, physical abilities, safety and ability to work with others.
During spring 2002, it became apparent that Colorado would suffer the worst drought in recorded history. Throughout Boulder County, water use restrictions and fire bans were implemented. Individual use of fireworks was banned throughout the state. Locally, the city of Boulder canceled its annual professional fireworks display and closed its open space for July 4.
The statewide drought has kept RMIH busy. During the months of June and July, RMIH was assigned to seven separate fires within the State of Colorado. Two — the St. Vrain and Big Elk Fires — have been within or very close to Boulder County. The remaining assignments were in the Rio Grande National Forest, Pike-San Isabel National Forests; on primarily private land along the Colorado-New Mexico border; and in Gilpin County, west of Denver.
Since mid-July, Boulder County has been routinely at preparedness level 4 or 5 and action class 5, with fire danger ratings of very high to extreme. Thousand-hour fuel moisture has been 6% for several weeks. While portions of the Front Range have received measurable rainfall from the summer monsoons, these storms have for the most part missed Boulder County. With conditions like this, it was no surprise when the Wonderland Lake Fire erupted on city of Boulder's open space at the northern city limits on July 19. RMIH was already assigned to the Big Elk Fire that had started on July 17. It had been called back from a Routt National Forest severity assignment.
The Big Elk Fire sent its Type 2 Bell 212 to the Wonderland Lake Fire. “It worked well,” says Boulder (Colo.) Fire Chief Larry Donner. “The Bell 212 couldn't make it at the elevations and temperatures on the Big Elk Fire, but the Lama could. We were happy to let Big Elk continue to use the Lama in return for the Bell 212, because it did a great job for us at our lower elevations. We wouldn't have had air support for our fire if we hadn't provided air support to Big Elk.”
The Wonderland Lake Fire was controlled at about 300 acres. A handful of smaller Boulder County fires have been suppressed without air support.
On July 25 and 28, RMIH participated in two Rocky Mountain National Park rescue missions, both involving injured hikers. Rescue personnel and medical supplies were delivered to remote locations, significantly shortening the response times.
Accounting at this point is approximate, but program costs for June 1 through July 15 are about $225,000. Of this, the program has billed for reimbursement of approximately $203,000. This means that halfway through the fire season for which the program has received approximately $160,000 in up-front contributions, only $22,000 of those contributions have been used.
“The contributions from sponsors will allow us to extend program operations, if fire conditions warrant,” says Mullenix. “Or, perhaps some of the agencies who have contributed the most will be able to recapture some of their costs.”
Hiring a full-time helicopter manager has proved to be the best program decision for 2002. “Bruce doesn't have any conflicting professional obligations,” says Tombolato. “Since this is his full-time job, he is free to take the ship and crew wherever and whenever it is needed. The relief managers have their own careers, and especially with the high fire dangers this summer, we have responsibilities to our own jurisdictions.”
Kris Kranzush is a consultant to the City of Boulder, Department of Public Works Utilities Division, who works primarily on water utility projects as an environmental permitting and compliance specialist. For the past several years, she has coordinated the emergency response planning for major water infrastructure construction projects. Her involvement in wildland fire issues began in 2001 with an assignment to investigate how best to protect the City of Boulder's water supply watersheds from major wildland fire incidents, which led to the development of Rocky Mountain Interagency Helitack. She is a member of the RMIH Board of Directors and helps to coordinate program promotion, fund-raising and public relations.
| Aerospatiale SA-315B Lama | McDonnell Douglas MD500 D | Bell 206 B-III Jet Ranger | Bell 206 L-3 Long Ranger III | Aerospatiale AS 355 F-1 TwinStar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bucket Size (gal.) | 180 | 96-108 | 96-108 | 96-144 | 108-144 |
| Cruise Speed (knots/mph) | 80/92 | 120/138 | 97/112 | 110/127 | 115/132 |
| Typical Payload (lbs.) 86°F at sea level | N/A | N/A | 945/945 | 1150/1150 | N/A |
| Typical Payload (lbs.) 86°F at 5,000 feet | 925/925 | 775/515 | 945/715 | 1150/950 | 925/625 |
| Typical Payload (lbs.) 77°F at 8,000 feet | 925/925 | 495/295 | 750/380 | 1150/830 | 500/200 |
| Payloads are calculated for hover-in-ground and hover-out-of-ground effects. Typical allowable payloads (non-jettisonable) for hover-in-ground-effect/hover-out-of-ground-effect, not to be used for load calculation purposes. RMIH chose the Lama model because it is less affected by altitude and temperature than some other models. | |||||
RMIH publishes updates approximately monthly during active operations and an annual report following the program termination for the year. The annual report contains a summary of the season's activities, a cost and revenue accounting, and proposed changes for the next year.
If you would like copies of past reports or want to receive the 2002 annual report, contact Marc Mullenix at 303-441-3350 or mullenixm@ci.boulder.co.us.
