В штате Орегон вертолеты лесной охраны получили ночное видение для тушения пожаров

MEDFORD, Ore. - The Oregon Department of Forestry's Southwest headquarters now has night vision technology for its helicopters, allowing crews to spot and fight fires after dark. Aircraft support firefighters on the ground in multiple ways. Lee Winslow, district aviation supervisor and unit forester at ODF Southwest, said the helicopters don't put out fires themselves but provide critical backup. "Aircraft don't put fires out. Folks on the ground put fires out," Winslow said. "But what aircraft does is give those guys the support they need to make it safe to be right on that fire edge." The primary helicopter at ODF Southwest handles reconnaissance, mapping, leading units to fires and bucket work. Daemian Deen, a helitak crewman, said the Type 3 helicopter with a helitack crew takes on many roles. "For us, because we're a Type 3 with a helitack crew, we do a lot of different things," Deen said. "We do recon, we do mapping, we lead units in, and then we also have a bucket attached to it and do a lot of bucket work." The new night vision gear limits the pilot's field of vision but provides clear sight in darkness. Craig Morrison, vice president of flight operations at Brim Aviation, said the technology excels at detecting small fires from far away. "...the nice thing about night vision is you can pick up little specks of light so far away," Morrison said. "So if you see a little flicker, a little fire starting, it could be pitch black out and you'll see that flicker moving around. You'll be able to fly right to it." The technology proved effective on its first deployment. On the night of Sept. 1, crews found three lightning fires using night vision and contained all three before they grew larger. "We were able to go in there and hunt up three starts that came from the lightning, find them when they're small, get that information to dispatching ground crews so they follow up with them that night and all three those fires were caught," Winslow said. The night vision capabilities also help crews fighting active fires by spotting embers that spread beyond the fire line. Winslow said ground crews benefit from having eyes in the sky watching for spots that wouldn't be visible to someone on the ground. "For them to know they got extra layer support, eyes in sky actually looking for spots because you could see spot wouldn't detectable by normal eye on your own ground timber building line," Winslow said. Winslow said adding 12 hours of aircraft support changes how crews can respond to fires. "The ability add another 12 hour shift aircraft to support folks one the ground and communities at risk is an absolute game changer," Winslow said. The night vision technology helps day and night shift crews build off each other's work and get fires under control faster.