NOVEMBER 26, 2024 – New York Army National Guard aviators dropped 550,160 gallons of water on the 5,200-acre Jennings Creek fire Nov. 11-20 as state and local firefighters fought the Orange County blaze.
The wildfire, the largest in New York since 2008, according to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office, ignited Nov. 9 and expanded to 2,500 acres straddling the New York-New Jersey border by Nov. 10.
On Veterans Day, Nov. 11, eight Soldiers assigned to Alpha Company of the 3rd Battalion, 142nd Aviation, began flying water bucket firefighting missions with two UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters.
New York State Police helicopters had already been flying, but additional assets were needed, said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Thomas Scott, the maintenance officer for the 42nd Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade who coordinated the Army Guard missions.
That first day, the aviators conducted 63 drops and delivered 41,580 gallons of water onto the fire 660 gallons at a time, according to the New York National Guard operations center.
By Nov. 20, 49 aviators, and 10 aircraft, including two CH-47F Chinook helicopters capable of carrying 1,500 gallons of water at a time, had taken part in the firefighting effort.
The CH-47s are assigned to B Company, 3rd Battalion, 126th Aviation, based in Rochester.
By the end of the mission, the aviators had flown 94 hours and conducted 576 water bucket drops.
The UH-60 crews conducted 386 drops during five days of operations. The CH-47 crews, flying Nov. 14-20 with one non-flying day, conducted 190 drops.
At any given time, eight aircrew were flying two UH-60s and 10 aircrew were flying two CH-47s. The New York State Police also flew missions at the same time.
It was the longest firefighting mission New York’s Army Guard aviators have ever deployed on and the first time the CH-47s were used for firefighting.
The missions were challenging, said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Andrew Behrens, the standardization pilot for A Company, also a State Police pilot in civilian life.
Flying with 2.7 tons of water slung underneath the helicopter is always challenging, Behrens said. Strong winds made it more difficult to position the water bucket accurately.
Behrens said each helicopter carried a forest ranger on board who could talk to the fire crews on the ground to make sure water wasn’t dumped on the people below.
And because the pilots couldn’t see the bucket slung underneath, they counted on the crew chief in the back to talk them onto the target and release the water at the right time.
Normally, CH-47 operates about 60% of power, with a large reserve to maneuver. On the drop missions, the pilots had a reserve of maybe 2%.
“You have to be very light and very calculating on the control movements,” Hermanson said.
The Ch-47s crews had a steep learning curve but mastered the technique in a day or two, he said.
By Eric Durr
New York National Guard