Pictures from the Bighorn Helibase

Crow Agency BIA - 2005

        The Bighorn Mountain fire was located on the Crow Reservation near Bighorn Canyon southeast of Billings, MT.  The helibase was set up near Yellowtail Dam on the Bighorn river.  It was a small helibase, with 3 helicopters assigned to it, not including the Crow Helitack ship which spent some time at the helibase staging for IA.  Of the helicopters assigned, there was one Kaman KMax, one Bell 206-B3 JetRanger, and a Bell 212.  The KMax and B3 were Call-When-Needed (CWN) ships, and the 212 and crew were from the Peppermint Helitack crew, on the Sequoia National Forest in California.  The helibase was remote - it was 20 air miles from the Incident Command Post (ICP), and 15 air miles from the fire itself.  Just getting gear and food from the ICP to the helibase was a logistical nightmare, with the drive between the two taking about an hour each way.

Bell 212 with Black Canyon in background	212 ready for takeoff	212 and 206-B3 in front of Black Canyon
Burnout seen from the helibase	Another look at the burnout.  If you look closely you can see the 212 returning from the fire	The Crow Helitack ship (L, sister ship to ours at Fort Howes) and the 206-B3 (R)
A look at the helibase, with all 3 ships on their pads	Bell 206-B3	Kaman KMax
KMax in flight with bucket	KMax takeoff	KMax set down for night
KMax at night	View from helispot 3, near the ICP	Sunset at the helibase

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