Pictures from the Fort Howes Helitack Crew

2006 Fire Season

Above: Fort Howes, as seen from the air.  The hangar is off frame to the left.  The Otter Creek road is at the top.

        2006 was another interesting year at Fort Howes.  We had almost complete turnover from 2005, with the crew supervisor and myself being the only two people who returned.  We also were unable to fill all of our positions on the crew, even having an unfilled seasonal senior firefighter spot, which left me as the only senior firefighter in my first season in the position.  The new crewmembers were all new to helitack, but learned fast and by the end of the season were savvy to helicopters and their ways.  Our helicopter, a Bell 206L3, was again provided by Brainerd Helicopter Services of Brainerd, MN.  Our pilot was probably the most fire-savvy pilot I have ever seen, and was a tremendous asset for initial attack.  Unfortunately Brainerd chose not to extend the contract when it expired in mid-August..  As a result we got a new helicopter and pilot, and the crew had to adjust to a slightly different way of doing things.  It was rather like switching horses midstream, so to speak, as fire season was still in full swing. Our new helicopter was also Bell 206L3, provided by Big Sky Beck of Helena, MT.  Fortunately, our new pilot was every bit as skilled as our old one, and was great to work with.

        Fire.  It's what we all signed up for, and 2006 didn't disappoint.  I was on 21 fires, two-thirds of which were initial attack, and most were around Fort Howes.  Most everyone on the crew got about 20 fires and 400 hours of overtime.  This was a fairly busy season for the Fort in that most of the fires went big fast, requiring more resources than usual.  The number of fires was not unusual, but the effort and resources needed to catch them was. 

        One memorable initial attack was the Watt Draw fire, which we landed to initial attack one morning in July.  Engine 266 and crew were on scene when we arrived, and had estimated the fire size to be about 5 acres.  On our flight over we had estimated the size to be about 15-20 acres.  We spent all afternoon and most of the night chasing the fire with 5 helitack crewmembers, 2 engine crews, 1 bulldozer, and 6 smokejumpers.  Other resources filtered in throughout the first day, including some local Powder River volunteer engines and the Fort Meade Fuels Module (BLM) from South Dakota.  By the end of the first day the fire was nearing 2,000 acres and still growing.  With the district as a whole being hammered with similar fires (too many for me to count, but I believe the district ended up with 5 or so type 2 fires and 1 or 2 type 1 fires), resources were scarce, and we had to make due with very little.  As a result most people on the fire put in at least a 20-hour shift followed by another 16 hours on the line.  Some crews (BLM engine 266, FS engine 41, Ashland Fuels Crew) put in an incredible amount of hours in the next few days, while the IC worked about 68 hours of one 72-hour period.  The fire eventually went to 17,000 acres and required a type 2 team to manage it.  Despite the lack of resources the fire was nearly caught and contained by the time the team arrived by the local resources, leaving the team with about 4 days of work before handing it back to us.

        As a side note, 2006 was probably the last season for the Fort Howes Helitack program as I knew it.  In 2007 the ship and crew will be moved to Miles City, MT, and will operate out of the Miles City airbase.  The fires will remain the same, although the crew will likely not.  Here's to the good times had for over twenty years by helitack firefighters working out of The Fort.

Anyway, here are some images from 2006.

Helicopter 3BH, landing near Miles City for training	Some of the crew hanging out in Arches NP	2006 Fort Howes Helitack, in Arches NP
Conan (crew sup), in Miles City	(L-R) Devin, Nolan, Lindsey, with packrat caught in Hangar	Nolan at refresher in Miles City
Lindsey, Jason, & Nolan on the Cook Mtn. fire.	The Watt Draw fire, day 1, from the heel of the fire.	Vaughn (R) on the Watt Draw fire.
Night burnout at Watt Draw.	Another shot from the night burnout.	Column from the Bear fire, seen from the Reserve helibase, NM.
Our fuel truck fueling a National Guard OH-58 in Reserve, NM.	(L-R) Logan, Nolan, and Conan in Reserve, NM.	3BH in Buffalo, WY, on the way back from NM.
Engine 242 on the Charles Creek fire, near Broadus, MT.	Rick on the Charles Creek fire.	Lindsey on the Charles Creek fire.
Devin on the Charles Creek fire.	Engine 266 on the Charles Creek fire.	(L-R) Seth, Greg from E266, and DOZB Dan.
Crew and chase truck at Charles Creek.	Elk Creek fire from the air, near Ashland, MT.	9TB dropping on the Elk Creek fire.
Devin and Nolan digging line on the Elk Creek fire.	9TB dropping on the Marvell fire, near Ashland, MT.	9TB taking off from the Marvell fire.
9TB in a hover on the Saderbalm fire near Red Lodge, MT.	Crew on the Chrome fire, Vaughn is 2nd from L, and Rick is far R.	SEAT drop on the Piper Draw fire, near Fort Howes, MT.

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