Spending lots of time together conducting intense operations where teamwork and trust are essential, while also traveling large distances twice a year to follow South Africa’s fire seasons, adds up to a tight-knit team. Each component, from dispatch to the ground crews and pilots, consists of experts in their professions. Training and standard operating procedures are critical to their effectiveness and safety.
Make no mistake; it’s a tough job. It takes a certain temperament to integrate into this environment. Waiting around for long periods of time and then taking off to fight a fire within minutes is no easy feat. A fire can last up to a week, or last only an hour. Every pilot wants to be flying whenever the opportunity happens, however pilots might go weeks without being dispatched to a fire. It’s crucial for team members to keep their minds active and psychologically healthy in these down times.
During my time at the Stellenbosch base, I was fortunate to join spotter pilot Wolf
Moll in his Cessna 182. We had been on base for six hours, with temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The day was starting to wind down and my hope of seeing operational action was dwindling. Suddenly,
a request came through
to dispatch: there’s a fire on Boyes Drive and aerial support is required. A spotter aircraft from Stellenbosch and three Hueys from the Newlands base are dispatched. We move quickly
to
the aircraft with operating frequencies confirmed. Within minutes we are flying en route to the fire.
I know the fire location well, having flown there many times before. The difference this time is that there is lots of smoke and we are orbiting in the lee of the mountain with extreme turbulence. A cloud shoots over the mountain towards us, bouncing us around. Wolf finds a sweet spot in the turbulence, and the aircraft settles slightly. Spotters are often underappreciated by the general public. They are high above the fire and smoke, and hardly heard or seen from the ground. The view of the fire from the spotter is unparalleled.
We can clearly see the fire’s extent as well as the effectiveness of the water bombing. The spotter identifies hot spots and coordinates the helicopters. The helicopter pilots approach the fire from a lower angle and in smoke with limited visibility, so they rely heavily on the spotter to provide coordination of resources.
Another key aspect of the spotter is the onboard camera providing a live view of the fire. On-site incident commanders and Kishugu operational management can monitor the live feed to coordinate ground and aerial resources.
Situations are dynamic. The wind can change direction or strength, and flare- ups can occur, which all add to the challenges facing the team.
The Bambi Bucket is used to collect water from sources closest to the fire such as dams, rivers, the ocean and even swimming pools. Multiple water sources might be required, depending on the fire location and water supply.
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