The Humble Beginnings of Aircraft in the Forest Service
By Frey, Melissa
Just 16 years after Wilbur and Orville Wright’s historic first flight at Kitty Hawk, the Forest Service pioneered the use of aircraft in forestry. At this time, shortly after World War I, firefighting took to the air when the Forest Service initiated the use of aircraft to patrol for wildfires. 1919 to 1927 – Fire Detection
In 1919, the Forest Service recognized the important role that aircraft could perform in protecting and managing forested areas. The U.S. Army provided airplanes (DH4Bs) and pilots for initial detection of fires and monitoring the spread of ongoing fires.
In June of that year, the Forest Service alerted the Nation to the fact that Army airplanes and “captive” (hot air) balloons would soon be flying over portions of the country’s national forests in the West.
The agency’s widely circulated news release informed: “This will be the beginning of experimental work in which the adaptability of aircraft to forest patrol work is to be thoroughly tried out. If the tests should prove successful, it is expected that the airplane patrols will be extended and that airplanes will become a permanent feature of the ceaseless battle against fires in the national forests. Warnings offres will be transmitted by means of parachute messages dropped over a town, the finder to telephone or convey them to the Forest Service.”
1927 – Parachutes Drop Supplies
Due to budget restraints-8 years after this introduction of aircraft above the national forests-the Army could no longer provide aircraft and pilots for these assignments. Aircraft were then contracted by the Forest Service with private individuals for fire detection-and for dropping cargo.
1929 – Personnel Transport
As Montana’s Half Moon Fire burned through the Flathead National Forest and Glacier National Park in 1929, the value of aircraft increased. To answer the call for help on this large-and-moving- fire, it was decided that four firefighters would be flown from Albuquerque, NM, to Missoula, MT. While heavy smoke forced the flight to land in Butte, MT, the firefighters continued to their assignment by train.
A few days later, the Half Moon Fire blew up and Missoula wired for help again. A second planeload of firefighters took off from Albuquerque. Once again, due to heavy, smokefilled skies, they had to land in Salt Lake City, UT-where the firefighters boarded a train for the last leg of their fire dispatch journey.
Yesterday-This plane was used by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, mainly for fire detection nights over northern Wisconsin. The plane was also intended to enable initial attack on fires by the pilot and co-pilot. They would land the plane on a nearby lake, taxi to shore, and then utilize “backcans” and hand tools to suppress the fire.
Three days later, a third flight of firefighters departed Albuquerque for Missoula yet again. This time, at the Half Moon Fire base camp, a ground crew dumped a barrel of gasoline along the edge of the runway and lit it. This maneuver successfully marked the landing spot for the pilot and the load of firefighters was delivered directly to the fire.
1930 – First Attempt to Drop Water From an Airplane
1937 – First Extensive Chemical Bomb Dropping Tests Held
1938 – Forest Service Purchases First Aircraft
The first Forest Service-owned aircraft, a Stinson Reliant SF-10 FM, was equipped with an adjustable pitch propeller for low flying and had special bomb sights for accuracy in dumping food and firefighting equipment by parachute.
The bottom of this airplane’s fuselage contained a special floor with trap doors and a hatch opening through which containers of water-or “Tire-quenching” chemicals-could be released.
1940 – First Professional Smokejumpers Hired
In 1939, the Forest Service’s Assistant Chief for Fire Control, David Godwin, wanted to explore looking at using parachutes to deliver firefighters into remote and inaccessible fires.
On July 12, 1940, Rufus Robinson and Earl Cooley successfully parachuted onto the Nez Perce National Forest in Idaho. They are the country’s first smokejumpers. (For more on the history of smokejumping, see article on page 18, The Man Who Gave Smokejumping Its Name.)
1946 – First Helicopter Use
In 1946, the first helicopter was used-in a limited way-by the Forest Service on the Castiac Fire on the Angeles National Forest. The next year, the helicopter became a major working tool on five Forest Service wildfires in California (Jefferson 1948).
In 1948, T.A. Bigelow, forest engineer and fire control officer on the Klamath National Forest, heralded the merits of the helicopter in an article for Fire Control Notes (Vol. 3; No. 2 and 3) (predecessor of Fire Management Today):
“After more than 25 years of fighting fire, I feel that I have, this summer, witnessed a machine that is destined to play a more important role in fire suppression than any other piece of fire equipment that we have at our command. This equipment is the helicopter . . . I had the opportunity of riding in this machine on a reconnaissance night and of observing some of its actions and performances under actual fire conditions . . . I actually saw more fire and fireline conditions in 16 minutes of night time than I could have seen on ground travel (foot and auto) in a full daylight day. I knew after this short night exactly what I was up against as night fire boss. This situation was not secondhand when I got it; it was my own observation. I had a clear picture of the entire fire. “
These early visionaries also realized that aviation could assist far more than the Forest Service’s firefighting efforts. In the January 1948 issue of Fire Control Notes, Frank J. Jefferson, assistant regional forester of Region 5 (Pacific Southwest Region) concluded:
“Foresters cannot afford to overlook the helicopter in any plans for forest management involving reconnaissance, transportation of personnel, equipment or supply, or special project service-whether they be concerned with fire suppression, timber survey, snow surveys, range reseeding, tussock moth control, or road and trail studies.”
1947 – Forest Service Purchases 17 Aircraft
In 1947, a fleet of 17 aircraft were purchased by the Forest Service. All were equipped with two-way radios. The larger aircraft were equipped for parachuting people and cargo. With this new fleet of aircraft at its disposal, the Forest Service, once again, contracted with the U.S. Army Air Corps to test various types of aircraft with water and retardant bombs for dropping on wildfires.
Today-A Sikorsky Sky Crane, equipped with 2,000 gallon tank and special snorkel to make it a helitanker, drops a water and retardant mix on the Mount Hood National Forest’s Bluegrass Fire last August. A nearby “helliwell” was set up to provide the water/retardant. The elaborate pump on this Sikorsky helicopter can fill its 2,000 gallon tank-via the snorkel-in 30 seconds. Photo: Doug Jones, permit specialist, Mt. Hood National Forest, 2006.
It was determined that-with slight modification of the bomb racks- a Boeing B-29 could carry 165-gallon tanks to be used as water bombs, and that a Republic P-47 could carry one of these tanks under each wing for glide bombing. The tests, carried out on the Lolo National Forest in Montana, were successful.
1954 – Dropping of Chemical Retardants Begins
The 1954 “Operation Firestop” demonstrated conclusively that water and certain chemical retardants could be air-dropped onto wildfire and be effective in slowing fire spread. (For more on the history of the use and development of chemical retardants, see article on page 24, The Latest on the Evolution of Chemical Fire Suppression – Water Enhancers Eyed For the Future.)
1964 – The Development of Infrared
1971 – Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems [MAFFS) Techniques Developed
By now, aircraft have become an essential part of fighting fire.
1972 – Beginning of the Rappelling Program
In 1972, the Pacific Northwest Region’s Redmond Smokejumpers launch the first study for exploring the feasibility of firefighters rappelling from helicopters. (For more on the history of the Forest Service’s rappelling program, see article on page IQ, Meet the “Other” Airborne Wildland Firefighters.)
Today, of course, a gamut of aerial resources continue to serve as an essential component of wildland fire suppression. We are forever indebted to the pioneering individuals in the last century who had the vision and wherewithal to encourage and advance the evolution of this vital suppression tool.
“Foresters, in their effort to administer wild lands more efficiently, have been continually envious of and wishful for the ability of the bird: to travel swiftly, to see rough terrain at close range, but in perspective; to hover and to alight in small spaces.
Who wouldn’t want to make more useful use of time, avoid leg weariness, and bypass the discomfort of an ill-fitting saddle anda bum horse? In none of the activities of a forester does this need assume greater significance than in the field of fire control.”
Frank J. Jefferson
Assistant Regional Forester
Region 5 (Pacific Southwest Region)
From his article
“The Helicopter – A New Factor in Fire Control” in the January 1948 (9-1) Fire Control Notes, forerunner of Fire Management Today.
“Airplanes will become a permanent feature of the ceaseless battle against fires in the national forests.”
– 1919 Forest Service
news release
“Warnings of fires will be transmitted by means of parachute messages dropped over a town, the finder to telephone or convey them to the Forest Service.” – 1919 Forest Service news release
“The handful of foresters who, over the long years of its developmental infancy, daringly envisioned and voiced their belief in the successful adaptation of the helicopter to forest fire control, steadfastly faced the skepticism of their coworkers.”
Frank J. Jefferson
Assistant Regional Forester
Region 5 (Pacific Southwest Region)
1948
The first Forest Service airplane was equipped with an adjustable pitch propeller for low flying and had special bomb sights for accuracy in dumping food and firefighting equipment by parachute.
Wildland Fire Aviation Uses
* Fire command and control;
* Fire suppression;
* Fire detection and surveillance;
* Fire training;
* Fire administration;
* Prescribed burning projects; and
* Fire hazard, photo, and mapping projects.
Other incidental Forest Service aviation use includes:
* Intelligence gathering,
* Supply delivery,
* Personnel movement, and
* Search and rescue.
On July 12, 194O1 Rufus Robinson and Earl Cooley, on Idaho’s Nez Perce National Forest, become the country’s first smokejumpers.
References
Bates, Robert W. 1978. Historical firsts in the Forest Service. Cultural resources report no. 26: USDA Forest Service, Southwestern Region. Albuquerque, NM.
Bigelow, TA. 1948. A helicopter in fire control. Fire Control Notes. 9(1): 30.
Hartigan, A.F. A chronology of air tanker use on fires by the USDA Forest Service. U.S. Forest Service Historical Library, Boise Interagency Fire Center, Boise, ID.
Jefferson, F.J. 1948. The helicopter – A new factor in fire control. Fire Control Notes. 9(2 and 3): 1-9.
Pennsylvania Forestry Association. 1919. Army aircraft to fight forest fires. U.S. Forest Service Historical Library. “Forest Leaves” Vol. XVII – No.3.
Melissa Frey, coordinator for this special “aviation” issue of Fire Management Today, is the Federal Excess Personal Property Program Officer and the General Manager of Fire Management Today for the Forest Service, Fire and Aviation Management, Washington, DC.
Copyright Superintendent of Documents Summer 2007
(c) 2007 Fire Management Today. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.