By Skies Magazine | July 18, 2012 Estimated reading time 6 minutes, 6 seconds.
British Columbia’s “Rapattack” helicopter program was established by Jim Dunlop with a JetRanger at Lower Post in 1977. The program moved to Salmon Arm Airport in 1979 to be closer to B.C.’s largest concentration of lightning-caused fires.
A contraction of the words “rapid attack” and “rappel attack,” Rapattack was the first provincial government initial attack program in Canada to use rappel techniques to position crews close to a wildfire in inaccessible terrain, using 300-foot ropes.
The Rapattack program also pioneered the use of helicopter belly tank systems on Bell 205A-1s, and in 1996 added Breeze Eastern (and later Goodrich) hoists to its helicopters to extract initial attack crews more easily, and for medevacs. Twin-engine Bell 212s replaced single-engine Bell 205A-1s in 2000.
The Rapattack teams operate throughout B.C., but have been deployed to Alaska on five occasions. On a typical call, the helicopter will operate with a pilot, a helicopter operations tech (HOT) and a three-person initial attack crew. Each fire crew travels with two 175-pound cargo bags filled with firefighting equipment (i.e. chain saws, pulaskis, shovels, axes, fuel and oil, a small water pump, a hose and a 300 gallon collapsible water tank, sleeping gear and 24 to 48 hours of food) that is lowered by the HOT to the ground using a rope, and the same friction device the crew uses to descend (Sky Genie).
The helicopters are equipped with a 370 U.S. gallon belly tank that can be used to drop water directly onto the fire, or the water can be offloaded to the 300 gallon collapsible water tank on the ground through a 1½ inch hose lowered from the helicopter.
“With the renewal of our helicopter contracts in 2012, we made a deliberate decision to improve the performance and operational capability of our aircraft,” explained Tom Hansen, supervisor, provincial Rapattack operations. “We routinely operate at high temperatures and altitudes and spend a lot of time hovering while deploying crews, equipment and offloading water.”
The contract required all helicopters to have higher power P&WC PT6T-3B TwinPac engines or better, and performance-enhancing BLR Fast Fin & Strakes.
This summer, the 12 three-person rappel crews will be flying in one Bell 412SP, one 212HP and one 212.
Ascent Helicopters renewed its contract for a highly customized Bell 212HP fitted with a belly tank of its own design.
For the last six years, the Rapattack program has benefitted from Ascent’s development of a new 360-gallon (U.S.) carbon fibre belly tank that can upload water in 18 seconds, deliver a “near-to-instantaneous” water drop, and features a “space age” retractable snorkel.
“We are now moving ahead with plans to obtain a supplemental type certificate for a commercial version of our tank,” said Trent Lemke, owner of Ascent Helicopters.
Wildcat Helicopters also renewed its contract, but in 2012 introduced the first Bell 412 utilized by the Rapattack crews and a Bell 212 (which will be replaced with a second 412 in 2013).
Wildcat has branded its firefighting Bell 412 the “Wildcat SP Wildfire.”
“This helicopter is to the 412 what the FireHawk is to the BlackHawk,” said Wildcat’s Ian Wilson, referring to a custom firefighting version of the Sikorsky S-70 in use in the U.S. “It was purpose-built for the contract and configured for hoist, rappel and firefighting operations using the Simplex 304 Fire Attack Heli Tank System.”
“With a capacity of 370 gallons and superior fill times, the Simplex tank allows for a multitude of different drop patterns, from a single centre door drop for the laying of retardant lines, a single side door drop for use in grass and open areas, a two door drop for normal foliage coverage, and the three door drop which is designed for superior penetration in high and dense foliage,” said Wilson.
Looking to the future, Hansen envisions the Rapattack program one day operating “Cat A” performance helicopters when such helicopters are retired from the offshore oil and gas market, and can be procured at an affordable price.
Each season, B.C. hires additional helicopters for general purpose duties, including moving equipment and crews. Local fire regions “man up” with additional casual hire helicopters as the fire risk increases.
