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BEST OF INDUSTRY @ Serving Canadian Firefighters WORK


The May 2016 wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alberta, was Canada’s most expensive natural disaster, costing $3.58 billion. The 1.5 million-acre blaze raged for two months. Thanks to the around- the-clock efforts of 60 helicopters from local, regional, and government operators, the financial, physical, and human toll was prevented from becoming far worse. Out of the thousands of people affected, only two died. These fatalities occurred in a car crash on the highway out of the city.


Four local helicopter companies played a pivotal roles in fighting the Fort McMurray wildfires: Phoenix Heli-Flight, Summit Helicopters, Vortex Helicopters, and Wood Buffalo Helicopters (owned by Aurora Helicopters). While these companies normally fly oil industry personnel in and out of the Alberta oil sands, fighting a raging fire also came naturally to them. “Hauling water buckets and ‘bird-dogging’ hot spots for fixed-wing water bombers is something that we do all the time,” said Michael Morin, president and CEO of Aurora Helicopters. “Forest fires happen here every year. Normally they don’t pose any real threat to our city and communities, but in May 2016, we suddenly found ourselves in trouble.”


The flying conditions were extremely difficult for helicopter pilots working the fire. “With all the wood and chemical smoke aloft, we had to issue respirator masks to our crews to keep them


safe,” said Morin. “The air up there was truly poisonous.” The thick, swirling, and toxic smoke limited visibility to near zero, and the heat and high winds battered aircraft as they struggled to move personnel and equipment, drop water, and direct fixed-wing water bombers to their targets. These atmospheric factors, worsened by ever-changing wind headings, interfered with the helicopters’ attempts to evacuate oil industry personnel from the most threatened areas.


While the helicopter crews were flying in these challenging conditions, their own Fort McMurray homes and families were at risk below. Even the operators’ bases at Fort McMurray International Airport were in danger of incineration, as were the ad hoc landing areas to which they retreated. “We moved our equipment out of the airport when the fire started to come through, and then had to move it again when the flames caught up with us at our backup location,” said Paul Spring, Phoenix Heli-Flight’s president and operations manager. “Fortunately, the heroic efforts of firefighters, combined with sprinklers running on our airport hangars and fuel tanks, did the job. But things were very close more than once.”


Despite all these hazards, Fort McMurray’s helicopter companies, and the many others who came to their aid, came through when it counted most. Thanks to the pilots’ willingness to put themselves in harm’s way, Canada’s most costly natural disaster was prevented from becoming its most tragic.


66


Nov/Dec 2016


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