Firefighting rotorcraft showed their worth; Europe responds
Last year was something of a landmark in helicopter firefighting activity.

Last year was something of a landmark in helicopter firefighting activity. During one of the driest summers on record in the northern hemisphere, rotorcraft were deployed for long periods–often to areas where they had not been needed before–to stem the progress of flames.

But it wasn’t just the U.S. that suff-ered–southeast Asia and large swaths of European real estate were affected, especially in the south where the summers are long and hot. Fighting fires from the air is becoming big business for local operators, as well as U.S.-based equipment suppliers such as SEI Industries, which makes Bambi Buckets, and Simplex, which builds ventral water tanks. Nowadays, thankfully, more national organizations are planning their strategies and contracting their aerial support before the first blaze sparks into life.