When crews are able to operate 24/7, the fire can’t grow back over night (diminishing some of the progress made during the day). This is hard to see during daylight hours. This allows for superior accuracy when compared with day time operations.įurthermore, due to the use of the thermal imaging technology, the supervision aircraft can often spot a fire’s movement. Using NVG technology and a high-powered laser pointer, operators can pinpoint the ideal drop zone for the firefighting helicopter. There are also fewer aircraft in the skies making it safer for operations.Ĭoulson Aviation employs a two aircraft team, including a Sikorsky S-61 firefighting helicopter, and a Sikorsky S-76 supervision helicopter. A decade and 14 different night trials later, operations could begin.’ Why Carry Out Aerial Firefighting Missions at Night?Īt night, temperatures drop, and humidity may rise, making water and/or retardant drops more potent against a raging fire.
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Coulson Aviation had deployed two Sikorsky S-61s to aid firefighting efforts, but as Coulson said: “There was so much work to be done that evening when the aircraft parked for the day, we all felt helpless." Upon their return to Canada, work began on figuring out how to operate safely and effectively at night. Then, in 2009, it all changed with the terrible events of Black Saturday in Australia, where, in the course of one day, 173 people died in wildfires. We operated this program for five years’ winters only, as we had short days and bad weather – so to keep our utilization up and stay efficient, this worked well. “We tried NVGs at the time, however the pilots’ depth perception was far from what the technology is today on the NVGs we are utilizing. ‘We started to explore night flying operations in the 1990s flying timber off the tops of mountains, utilizing twin Night Suns on the landing gear and assisted lighting the area of felled timber focusing on the perimeter with stadium lighting,” Wayne Coulson, CEO Coulson Aviation explained. from an AirMed & Rescue interview with our CEO Wayne Coulson, reflects the evolution of development:
With the use of night vision technology (NVG) and FireWatch supervision helicopters we eventually developed the ability to hover fill over open water sources, and pinpoint the most effective drop zone(s) within any firefighting theatre. History of Coulson Night Aerial Firefighting:ĭue to the Black Saturday fires experienced in 2009 in Australia, Coulson Aviation returned home to Port Alberni and began their own research and development in 2010 with the goal of creating a more efficient nighttime aerial firefighting system. Since 2018, both the United States and Australia have been forward thinking in their approval of nighttime trials, and ultimately our ongoing night aerial firefighting operations in both countries. According to AirMed & Rescue, the US halted all aerial firefighting activities at night in the 1970s due to cost and safety concerns. History of Nighttime Aerial Fire Suppressionįire agencies such as the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the Los Angeles City Fire Department have been fighting fires at night, on and off since the late 1960s with limited success.