[PPRAANet] Waldo Canyon Fire info

[DickT-W0RAA]

Thanks for all that information, Paul.  Interesting reading.

Dick
W0RAA


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul Signorelli" <w0rw1 at msn.com>
To: "PPRAA" <ppraanet at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2013 4:48 PM
Subject: [PPRAANet] Waldo Canyon Fire info


>
> In case you missed my previous email here are some details about the Waldo 
> Canyon fire:
> It started 1 Year ago.  28-29 June 2012.
> Paul   w0rw
> -------
> i live about 7
> miles away from the fire.
>
> i was driving on Highway 24 a few hours after
> it started, pretty scary...It had
> a big mushroom cloud at first.
> The
> side of Highway 24 is now charred in a few places but the fire damage
> isn't
> really too noticeable.
> If the fire had jumped Highway 24 (Also
> known as the Ute Pass) it would have
> gone up the north side of Pikes
> Peak.
> When they could not stop the fire from Queens canyon, with the wind
> conditions,
> it got over the top of the last ridge and down into
> COS.
> The winds were from thunder storm outflow winds, not like the Santa
> Ana Winds
> that last for weeks.
>
> If you have never been around a
> fire like this, here is what happens:
> The local fire departments were
> first to hike into the fire.
> Waldo Canyon is a popular hiking trail that
> runs 3 miles back into the hills
> from Highway 24 just west of Manitou
> Springs, CO.
>
> When i went by the Canyon the USFS already had about 20
> trucks there at the
> trail head.
>
> The USFS sends a spotter plane in to
> direct all the fire fighting efforts.
> This plane is called "Waldo Air
> Attack".
> They set up at TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) air perimeter
> and no other
> aircraft are allowed to enter without approval.
> The
> Incident Commander sets a map perimeter around the fire (Assigning sectors
> A
> through Z, clockwise around the fire) and then assigns Division
> Chiefs
> to each each sector.
>
> "Air Attack" orbits the fire at around
> 1000 feet above the fire and directs all
> the other aircraft into the fire and
> relays ground support requests.
> He is the air traffic controller for the
> fire zone.
>
> The Waldo Fire had about 10 choppers flying around one
> day.
>
> When they need slurry Bombers they send in another "Lead"
> plane.
> The "Lead" plane orbits 500 feet below "Air Attack" and He (or She -
> Great job
> Mary) becomes the flight controller for the Bombers.
>
> The
> "Air Attack" assigns the slurry targets and the "Lead" plane will guide
> the
> bombers into the target.
> Many of the Bomber pilots have never seen
> the terrain so the "Lead" plane will
> make a first pass run at the
> target.
> This is called a "Show Me" pass and He sprays a little water or
> smoke so the
> bomber can see the exact drop target.
>
> This BLM Procedure
> is at
> <http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/nifc/directives.Par.58885.File.dat/i\
> mof&a2003008a1.pdf>
>
> The
> "Air Attack" must clear all of the guys on the ground out of the target
> zone
> and He keeps all of the choppers about 2 miles away.
> He tells all
> aircraft what is happening so they don't have any collisions.
> When the
> Bombers are returning to base for reloading, the "Lead" plane calls in
> the
> bucket drops to reduce the smoke over the target so the
> Bombers can see
> the target.
> Most of the Bombers fly at 120 Knots during the drop and they
> accelerated
> during the drop as they loose mass..
>
> We had 4 MAFF's
> (Military C130's) assigned to the fire also. They are like big
> spray paint
> canisters. They can make up to a quarter mile splash
> and vary the spay
> width. They lost #7 in South Dakota.
>
> The "Air Attack" has a pilot
> and a Fire Boss. The Fire Boss is directing the
> Fire Suppression Operations
> and working 2 radios with 3 frequencies each..
> He has to control all the
> choppers on VHF AM and all the aircraft on VHF FM.
> He gets them assigned
> to a division and then switches the to a secondary air to
> ground frequency or
> hands them off to the "Lead" plane for slurry drops.
> "Air Attack" is
> usually orbiting over the fire zone for 12 hours in 3 or 4
> shifts.
> The
> "Lead" plane is a usually a single seat plane.
>
> The guys on the ground
> work 12 hours on and 12 hours off. We had around 1500
> fire fighters here but
> now moved on.
>
> The community really
> appreciated the work of the fire fighters. Several
> restaurants have signs
> reading "Free Hamburgers for Firefighters".
>
> i did a little fire work in
> the past.
> See CQ Mag. June 2010, p.60-63.
> i even spent the night in a
> 'Spike Camp'.
> You can see a live picture of the fire area from the top of
> Pikes Peak at
> <http://www.cograilway.com/Summit/WeatheratSummitB.htm>
>
> The
> Waldo Canyon Fire map and additional fire information and videos can be
> found
> at:
> <http://www.inciweb.org/>
> and
> <http://springsgov.com/>
>
> Paul  W0RW
>
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