The New York National Guard recently executed the largest firefighting battle in its history, as wildfires tore through the New York and New Jersey border area of Orange County.
Between November 11-20, New York State National Guard UH-60 and CH-47F helicopters were used to dump more than half a million gallons of water on the Jennings Creek fire. The two twin-rotor CH-47 helicopters are each capable of carrying 1,500 gallons of water in a bucket suspended beneath the aircraft, per lift. It was the first time the New York National Guard used these helicopters to fight a wildfire.
With a member of the park's service on the helicopters to help communicate with ground teams fighting the fire, the National Guard pilots and their crews repeatedly made bucket runs on the fire.
Flying with 2.7 tons of water suspended beneath a helicopter is no easy tasks, especially when the winds get going. "You have to be very light and very calculating on the control movements," one of the pilots said in a National Guard release.
By the time their multi-day mission was complete, 49 aviators and 10 aircraft had flown for 94 hours and conducted 576 bucket runs on the wild fire.