VIDEO: What may seem like a daredevil stunt is just another day’s work for the men and women fighting fires from helicopters.
Fly to fire, pick up water, drop water on fire, rinse, repeat. It’s a straightforward process but it takes a village to make it happen and it all starts with a bucket.
“So this bucket for this machine is a hundred and forty-four gallons.”
Suspended under the helicopter, the specially designed bucket is extensively tested before its taken to the skies.
“So he’s hooking up the electrical and we’re gonna test to see if, first we’re doing the hook checks, we’re seeing if, in an emergency if the pilot does need to ditch the bucket, he can get rid of the bucket. And now we’re testing to see whether if the bucket is going to release water. That all worked good, now he’s gonna go ahead and hook the bucket up.”