Story ID: 134ColumbiaFireAIN1117
Bumper Firefighting Year for Columbia 
By: Mark Huber
Caption: Recent fires have encompassed much larger territory than those in the past.
Word Count: 443
The wildfires that ravaged Northern California's wine country last month are part of a pattern of larger and more destructive infernos that have dominated the 2017 fire season nationally, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). From January 1 through October 16, 8.77 million acres had burned in the U.S in 51,277 fires, compared with 4.913 million acres in 49,986 fires for the comparable period last year. (The NIFC reports the 10-year annual wildfire average is 56,465 fires burning 6.014 million acres.)

"The number of fires is about the same, but the acreage is way up. They've been larger fires," noted Keith Saylor, Columbia Helicopters' director of commercial operations. "That's why we've done so much better. This is an above-average year for us. Our firefighting operations are doing rather well." Saylor said demand for Columbia's tandem-rotor Chinooks on fires has been up 25 percent this summer.

Through mid-September, two million acres were ablaze in the U.S and federal agencies had already spent $2 billion battling them. In the recent Northern California fires, 14 separate fires burned 213,000 acres, destroyed an estimated 5,700 structures and killed 41 civilians through October 16. Through mid-October 40,000 residents remained evacuated from the fire area.

Some 73 helicopters and 30 airplanes were called in to fight the blazes, among them three Columbia aircraft that flew into the Sonoma-Napa area when the fires started in early October: one CH-47D with a 2,800-gallon internal tank, one CH-47D with a 2,600-gallon Bambi bucket, and a Boeing 234 with a 2,600-gallon Bambi bucket. Thirty support staff accompanied the helicopters that were contracted for by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) under a "call when needed contract;" they flew an average of six hours per day each and were employed in daylight operations only. Maintenance averaged four to six hours per night.

Saylor said the firefighting operations were fairly typical, with the exception that the fire had "gone through so many houses." The helicopters dropped suppressants and retardants but the majority of the drops were on active fire. Doing drops in a more urban environment meant pilots needed to be aware of the presence of infrastructure such as communications towers and power lines, Saylor said, as "opposed to open country in the backwoods." Precise drop locations were orchestrated by Cal Fire's air attack aircraft in coordination with the ground crews.

Columbia's pilots were rotated in and out of theater as part of their flying duty limit of 36 hours in six days. Under the limit, pilots can fly as many as 42 hours in six days but then they must have a day off before they can reset for another 36 and six.
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