#uh60

(2015) Using 2 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and Bambi-Buckets the Alaska Army National Guard teams have been performing firefighting missions in coordination with the Bureau of Land Management, Fire Services based out of Fort Wainwright, Alaska. On Friday June 26 the team flew their aircraft down to Tok, Alaska, to assist in fighting a few large fires in the area. Using internal aircraft communications the crew chief Sgt. Philip Peter talked to the pilots Chief Warrant Officer 4 Nyle Harrison and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Molly Reque to guide them onto ponds, from that point the crew used the Bambi-Bucket to gather around 800 gallons of water and fly to the selected area of the fire to extinguish the flames in that location.

A U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter hovers above Geronimo Landing Zone during the Joint Readiness Training Center 14-05 exercise rotation at Fort Polk, La., March 15, 2014. The training was designed to provide military units and personnel with realistic pre-deployment training scenarios in all aspects of armed conflict.

Their usual drab military paint enlivened with bright pink stripes and numbers, three National Guard Blackhawk helicopters have been located to a helibase in Auberry, CA to assist in fighting the Creek Fire. The Blackhawks will be used to drop up to 650 gallons of water or retardant at a time by using devices called Bambi buckets which are suspended under the helicopter from cables and are filled by dipping them in water while in a hover. Two CH-46 Chinooks have been dedicated by the Guard to also support the fire. Those helicopters will be based in Fresno and will respond as needed.