Vegetation Fire Fighting Mike Grant Southern Rural Fire Authority - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Vegetation Fire Fighting

Mike Grant Southern Rural Fire Authority

NZAAA Conference - Queenstown 12 October 2007

• Safety
• Logistics
• Efficiency

Aircraft Management at Rural Fires

NEW ZEALAND FIRE SERVICE COMMISSION NEW ZEALAND FIRE SERVICE COMMISSION Chief Executive

New Zealand Fire Service

(National Commander)

National Rural Fire Authority

(National Rural Fire Officer)

Rural Fire Authorities Fire Service Fire Brigades OUTPUTS

Fire Prevention Fire Readiness Fire Preparedness Fire Response Recovery

OUTPUTS Rural Fire Management Code of Practice Audits Grants Rural FireFighting Fund Rural Fire Co-ordination OUTPUTS Fire Detection Fire Prevention Fire Protection Fire Control Fire Supppresion Regional Rural Fire Committees

• Dept of Conservation
• Rural Fire Districts Authorities
• Local Territorial Authorities

Minister of Internal Affairs

(87)

National Rural Fire Advisory Committee

Coordinated Incident Management System (CIMS)

– Based on common principles – Multi-agency and resource – Applied to all incidents-small and large – Provides for accountability

I n f o r m a t i o n S a f e t y L i a i s o n P l a n n i n g / I n t e l l i g e n c e O p e r a t i o n s L o g i s t i c s I n c i d e n t C o n t r o l l e r

S i t u a t i o n R e s o u r c e s M a n a g m e n t s u p p o r t I n t e l li g e n c e / I n f o r m a t i o n A d v a n c e d p l a n n i n g S u p p l y F a c i li t i e s C o m m u n i c a t i o n s M e d i c a l C a t e r i n g F in a n c e

Air Division Commander Air Attack Supervisor Air Support Supervisor Sector Supervisor Sector Supervisor Crew Leader Crew Leader

Incident Management Structure

Operations Manager Air Division Commander Air Attack Supervisor Air Support Supervisor Helipad/Airstrip Supervisors Filling Crews Aircraft/Pilots Lead Pilot - Helos/FW’s

Aerial Division

Air Attack Supervisor Role

AAS reports to Operations Manager/Air Division Commander

• Participates in development of IAP (ADC Role)
• Prepares Air Operations Plan (ADC Role)
• Manages/Supervises air attack activities
• Appoints Lead Pilot(s) for specific sectors
• Co-ordinates aircraft activities over the fire
• Monitors aircraft tactical performance
• Makes tactical recommendations to Operations

Manager/ADC

• Ensures safety standards are maintained
• Monitors pilot workloads

Air Support Supervisor Role

Reports to Operations Manager/Air Division Commander

• Organises preliminary air operations
• Establishes/manages aircraft support unit
• Appoints personnel to unit (fill crews, pad/strip

supervisors, A/C logistics etc)

• Considers request for non-tactical use of A/C (media,

IMT overflights, mapping etc)

• Considers instigation of restricted airspace (TRA) in

consultation with AAS

• Monitors pilot welfare

• Helipad/Airstrip setup/management
• Aircraft resource tracking
• Fuel supplies (if bulk supplies are required)
• Foam/Retardant supplies
• Air Operations personnel:

– RFA filling crews – Aircraft company crews Aircraft Support Operations Unit

Company Onboard Company Onboard Company Onboard Company Onboard

Telephone Nos Comms Tactical Chl Assignment /Sector Registration /Callsign Aircraft Type Pilot Name/ Company Lead Helicopter Pilot: Lead Fixed-Wing Pilot: Air Attack Supervisor: Aircraft Officer:

Communications Command Freq: Incident Name: Date:

Air Operations Plan

Incident Action Plan

Flight Summary

T-Cards

• Aircraft companies (fire) must keep accurate

flight records of the dates, days, hours and locations worked.

• Aircraft companies (fire) must allow the RFA to

inspect these records and any flight hours recording device at any time and must provide the RFA with completed records at the end of each day’s work.

• Pilot or designated appointee must sign off any

aircraft work sheet at the end of each day’s work.

• Any aircraft accounts submitted for payment

need to be within normal business practice timelines.

Recording Requirements

Only companies with rated aircraft and rated pilots will be utilised on vegetation fires ! Future Requirements

Fire Pilot Requirements – (Orange Handbook)

Registered Pilots:

• >1000 hrs commercial flight time
• FRSITO Unit Std 3285: Protect Personnel Safety on

the Fire Ground Cat III - Lead Pilots

• >100hrs fire fighting experience
• FRSITO Unit Std 14564: Effects of the Fire

Environment on Vegetation Fire Cat II - Unrestricted pilots:

• 50 – 99 hrs fire fighting experience - works under

lead pilot and/or AAS Cat I - Restricted Pilots:

• <50hrs fire fighting experience - works under lead

pilot

Lead Pilot Roles

Report to the Air Attack Supervisor. If none has been appointed, lead pilots then report to the IC or Operations Manager

• Responsible for the safe use of their own aircraft and monitor

safety of their assigned air sector.

• Establish circuits from fill points and pads/strips to the fire

ground.

• Assist in coordinating flight patterns of fire fighting aircraft

where appropriate.

• Maintain communications with other aircraft.
• Ensure incident strategies and tactics are being met.
• Ensure an information feedback loop is established between

pilots and incident command.

• Do not direct aircraft strategies and tactics in suppression work

– this is the responsibility of incident command.

Minimum Aircraft Requirements

• A minimum of 10 flights hours available before

inspection/service. If this is not practical then the incident command must be informed of actual hours available and any actions that will be undertaken to mitigate this situation.

• Heli Bucket or Belly Tank system suitable for type of

helicopter flown

• On-board control system and an approved system for

jettisoning the under-slung load as appropriate

• Adjustable skirt/trunk
• On-board class A foam induction system
• VHF-FM band radio (ES B band) with approved frequencies

for multi-agency fire fighting operations

• Global Position System-equipped
• In addition to on-board fuel, 3 hours fuel available and

transportable to the fire ground

• Experienced ground crew to undertake refuelling operations

and engineering support as appropriate

Southland/ Otago agreed channel plan

• Move away from AM to FM – ES Band
• Common channel blocks – Fire, SAR, Ambulance, etc
• Fire 1,2,3,
• Fire 4 - air to ground

Communications Plan

• Pilots/support staff

– Personal Safety = 40 + – Fire Behaviour = 30 +

Training Undertaken Southland/Otago/Canterbury

• Training options for industry

– Fire fighting strategies – Prescribed burning – Aircraft support

Additional Training Options

Air Operations Strategies

• Use aircraft where their performance

criteria are maximised.

• Make use of fixed and rotary-wing

aircraft in tandem to maximise hitting power on high-intensity fires.

• Tie in air operations to support ground

forces as they move onto the sectors.

For These to be Effective Communications are Vital

Aerial Fire Fighting Strategies

Fixed-Wing Water Bombers Monsoon-Equipped Helicopters Ground Crews / Aircraft Fire Point of origin

Tactics for Aerial Suppression

No Anchor point for attack has led to breaching

Head-On Attack

Tactics for Aerial Suppression

Anchor Point Anchor Point

Pinching in the Head Fire

• Other than SAFETY & EFFICIENCY
• RFA have no position at present
• n use of NVG
• RFA awaiting aviation industry

standard

Night Work

Helicopter Fill Points

Fixed Wing Fill Points

Accentuate the Positive

• Large fires or those with potential to

become large have been contained by fast, aggressive and well resourced initial air/ground attack

• Air attack allows ground crews/resources

to follow up and extinguish fires

Involvement of NZAAA

• NZ (Orange Handbook) standards were developed

with industry input and coordinated by NRFA.

• Now require further discussion with industry on

refinement and implementation.

• NZAAA involvement

– National standards – Utilisation of resource on national basis

Involvement of Rural Fire Industry

• RFAs need to consider future turnout of aircraft to

incidents

• Work with aviation industry to

– implement training programmes nationally/regionally – Adopt national fire radio frequencies/channels – Address succession requirements

Questions ??