Aerial firefighting and forestry in southern Australia

This deadly pattern continued with more major fires on Black Sunday on 14 February 1926 which saw the tally rise to sixty lives being lost and widespread damage to farms, homes and forests.

[9] In the early part of last century, there was limited road access to the extensive mountain forests, particularly in the remote and uninhabited eastern ranges of Victoria so there was a strong level of enthusiasm for aerial bushfire reconnaissance.

[11]Discussion took place between the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) and the Air Board as early as 1926, and then over a period of years prior to 1929-30, with the view to commencing regular fire patrols using RAAF aircraft but a lack of safe landing areas proved the main obstacle.

Eventually, the first fire spotting aircraft in Victoria was deployed on 18 February 1930[12] when a RAAF Westland Wapiti from No.1 Squadron operating out of Point Cook near Melbourne flew over the nearby Dandenong Ranges.

[15] The Western Australian Forests Department went as far as purchasing four Piper PA18 light aircraft in 1978-79 and employed their own pilots to operate reconnaissance flights in conjunction with private planes.

[15] Later, the Tasmanian Forestry Commission undertook Australia's first large scale aerial forest survey in April 1930 when an area of nearly 900 square km (222,000 acres) was photographed in the north-western region by the Air Board.

[20] Large sheets of A0 parchment, transparent overlay film, a light table, a set of Derwent coloured pencils, Rotering ink pens and a steady hand were needed for mapmaking.

The Mapper was suspended under a Cessna 182 with all the clumsy electronic equipment mounted in the back seat of the aircraft, but the results were disappointing because overnight rain had deadened the temperature difference.

However, the operational “coming of age” of this technology occurred a year later during the 1984-85 bushfire season when an infrared linescanner was mounted in a NSCA Kingair 200C and a GAF Nomad aircraft were used to monitor the spread of major fires and the progress of back burning across North Eastern Victoria.

The geospatial revolution in bushfire mapping and navigation came of age when powerful computers and the internet converged with a number of new digital technologies including:[24] Firebombing in a military sense was developed during WW2 and designed to damage a target using incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs.

[28] The first trials of using aircraft to attack fires in Australia were conducted in Victoria in 1937-38 when the Forests Commission carried out tests in conjunction with Australian Paper Manufactures (APM) dropping brine solution (bitterns) in cartons.

[15] Further trials were conducted by the Forests Commission just after the end of WW2 at Anglesea in Victoria beginning in November 1946 to compare the performance of RAAF P51 Mustangs, Consolidated B-24 Liberators and Avro Lincoln Bombers dropping ammonium sulphate compounds in 500 lb bombs from about 100 feet which were designed to burst on impact.

[15] On 6 February 1967 two Piper Pawnees from Benambra near Omeo, flown by Ben Buckley and Bob Lansbury, made Australia's first operational drop of fire retardant slurry on a small lightning-strike.

[35] The "proof of concept" that resulted from the firebombing at Benambra combined with new and more powerful aircraft into the late 1960s led to improved techniques for handling, mixing, storing and loading equipment for Phoschek.

[1] Innovations continued and on 3 March 1970, a Canadian de Havilland Twin Otter was trialled at Snowy Plains fitted with two 1100 litre membrane tanks which were slashed by a guillotine to discharged the load and control the drop pattern.

However, for helicopters equipped with bellytanks and use hover-fill pumps, or those with buckets on ‘short’ lines, pilots prefer to use fresh water to avoid ingesting salt into the turbine engines which are susceptible to corrosion.

The equipment known as Modular Airborne Firefighting System (MAFFS) was trialled bombing bushfires with a slurry of an Australian made chemical fire retardant (Amgard-A11) in quantities up to 11,000 litres per drop.

[38] MAFFS could deliver a much greater volume than was possible with the smaller agricultural aircraft contracted to the Forests Commission at the time and was used effectively in the suppression of bushfires at Broadford, Bright and Orbost.

[1] The Search and Rescue Department of the Civil Aviation Authority sought the assistance of the Forests Commission in February 1972 to carry out tests at Managalore airport north of Melbourne with a Fokker Friendship F27 which led to NSW Emergency Services dropping over 3,000 heliboxes during the 1974 floods.

[1] Special containers and weighted canvas envelopes were developed by the Forests Commission to drop maps and line scanning imagery from fixed wing aircraft before live streaming of data became available.

Rappelling or lowering of firefighters from a hovering helicopter was first trialled by the Forests Commission Victoria at Erica not long after WW2 in 1949 using a RAAF Sikorsky S-51 Dragonfly which was normally based at East Sale.

[1] The Forests Commission Victoria then contracted its own Bell 47G in 1964 and after some initial trials at Snowy Plains and Tallangatta established rappel operations based at Heyfield with a two-man crew.

It was revisited again in 1991 to enable specialist crews to deploy from a maximum height of 1.3 m and is ideally suited where vegetation or terrain prevented a helicopter from conducting a full skid landing such as rocky areas in the Grampians and the desert scrub country in Western Victoria.

[1] Australia is well known for being one of the driest continents on earth, which is often beset with prolonged droughts, so any opportunity to increase rainfall was seen of great national significance and many innovative and sometimes bizarre ideas were put forward.

[49] Over the next 18 years, the RAAF and CSIRO Division of Cloud Physics collaborated with state forest, fire and agricultural agencies testing different aircraft, chemicals, techniques, and delivery systems.

[15] The Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser then directed the RAAF to supply a CH47 Chinook to support remote firefighting operations on Mount Buffalo transporting large quantities of personnel and cargo onto the plateau.

[53] In NSW, an additional A$38 million was set aside in 2017 by the Rural Fire Service for two new Large Air Tankers (LAT), DC-10 and Lockheed L100, to supplement their existing aircraft fleet including two ex-Army Blackhawks.

[54] A similar situation existed in America in 2003 where the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management reported to a senate committee that together they own, lease, or contract over 1,000 aircraft each fire season and spend in excess of US$250 million.

[58] However, rising costs of large firebombing aircraft have led some critics to question the strategy of relying on them for prolonged attack operations on relatively stationary fire fronts or for building lengthy retardant control lines.

[35] Reciprocal arrangements are in place between all Australian States and many overseas countries to share aircraft and specialist expertise like Air Attack Supervisors so some common international aviation guidelines[63] with standard terminology are being developed to facilitate global deployments.

RAAF Westland Wapitis from Point Cook near Melbourne were first engaged on 18 February 1930 by the Forests Commission Victoria for bushfire aerial reconnaissance . Seen here flying in formation over Albert Park Lake .
Major bushfires in Victoria between 2002 - 2009.
Roly Parke, Forests Commission Victoria , District Forester - 1945. New office radios and heavy RC-16 portable radios enabled firefighters to communicate directly with RAAF reconnaissance aircraft.
The need to improve communications for firefighting in flat terrain like the deserts of north western Victoria prompted use of balloons to suspend radio relay sets - 1976.
Photographers testing large format F24 cameras used in allied aircraft including the RAAF. Circa 1942/1943.
Pilots from the Australian Flying Corp pioneered the use of aerial photography and cartography in Palestine during WW1. Lieutenant Cole sitting in the cockpit a Martinsyde G 10 0 fitted with a Williamson Camera - 1917. Source: AWM .
A thermographic camera on a gimbal mount.
NASA image showing the Snowy River bushfire in Eastern Victoria at night in February 2014. The bushfire which lasted for 70 days grew to 165 800 ha and was roughly the same size as Melbourne. Also visible are the fires at the Hazelwood coalmine and Kilmore. Source: NASA Earth Observatory .
The Forests Commission Victoria developed a strong relationship with the RAAF from the 1930s through to the early 1960s. L-R - Unknown RAAF Pilot, FCV Chief Fire Officer, Ted Gill, and FCV Communications Officer, Geoff Weste at Laverton in front of an Avro Lincoln used for fire spotting - circa 1962. Source: Athol Hodgson. FCRPA* collection.
500lb bomb casings were filled with water and ammonium sulphate and dropped by RAAF aircraft during firebombing trials at Anglesea - Melbourne Herald Newspaper, Dec 1946.
Forests Commission firebombing trials at Anglesea with a RAAF P-51 Mustang dropping a 750lb bomb - 9 November 1946. Source Melbourne Sun Newspaper.
One of the Piper Pawnees that flew Australia's first operational firebombing mission from Benambra in February 1967. Source: National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC) .
Two NSCA Bell 205's fitted with firebombing belly tanks and snorkels hovering over Lake Catani , Mt Buffalo National Park - 1985. Source: Bryan Rees. FCRPA* collection.
Air Tractor AT-802 water bomber
Line of phoschek retardant (shaded red) to control a fire started by lightning on the summit of Mt Buggery in the Victorian Alpine National Park . A firebombing base was established at nearby Mt Buller . Dec 2013. Source: Peter McHugh.
Trial of the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) - 1982. Source: Bryan Rees. FCRPA* collection.
A McDonnell Douglas DC-10 drops retardant in California - Aug 2013. The aircraft has a 45,000 litre capacity and required 9,000 litres of fuel per hour. Photo: US Forest Service.
The Erickson S-64 Air Crane Helicopter could carry 9500 litres and consumed nearly 2,000 litres of fuel per hour.
Aerial Ignition in Western Australia with a Cessna 337 . Source Australian National Archives - 1968.
DAIDs (Delayed Action Incendiary Devices) were large double-ended matches which were struck on the side of the Bell 47G helicopter and dropped by hand - circa 1972. Source: FCRPA* collection.
The Aerial Drip Torch (ADT) was used for slash burns after logging. Source: US Forest Service.
Premo "ping pong" ball aerial incendiary machine fitted into a Bell 206 Jet Ranger at the Victoria Valley, Grampians , Autumn 1980. Photo: Peter McHugh. FCRPA* collection.
Loading crews into a Navy Wessex at Mt Murray. Mt Feathertop in the background. These fires were the largest single aerial firefighting operation up to that time and valuable lessons were learned. January 1985. Source: Peter McHugh. FCRPA* collection.
The cardboard helibox with fold-out wings was designed in 1964 to drop supplies to ground crews. FCRPA* collection.
The Forests Commission pioneered the use of aircraft for firefighting and crew transport - RAAF Sikorsky S-51 Dragonfly at Erica 1949. Source: State Library of Victoria.
A Bell 47G helicopter was engaged on a year-round contract by the Forests Commission Victoria in 1965, in what was seen as an Australian first. This machine was stationed at Heyfield and used for rappelling operations. Here seen in front of a group of admiring school children from Swifts Creek . Source: National Archives of Australia.
Trainee jumping from a Bell 47J helicopter in September 1958 at Lolo National Forest , Montana. Photo courtesy of the Forest History Society , Durham, N.C.
Aerial Seeding of logged areas - Powelltown 1967. Flight lines were marked by crews on the ground waving flags at each side of the coupe.
The Forests Commission Victoria contracted both the CSIRO 's Cessna 411 and Bib Stillwell 's Beechcraft Baron in 1966. Two years later the Melbourne & Metropolitan Board of Works took responsibility for cloud seeding over water catchment areas. Athol Hodgson at Corryong - 1966.
Battery of Stiger Vortex rain-making guns at Charleville, Queensland , 1902
RAAF Iroquois helicopters were deployed to Victorian bushfires in January 1978. This was probably the first time large military helicopters had been used to support Australian firefighters on such a scale. They were invaluable at moving fire crews and equipment into the remote mountains. [ 34 ]
The Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser made a RAAF CH-47 Chinook helicopter available to firefighters at Mt Buffalo in the wake of the Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria in 1983.
There are often calls in the media for Australia to use water scooping aircraft like the Bombardier CL-415 . The Australasian Fire Authorities Council (AFAC) funded trials in the Otways in 1996. It was found that the aircraft requires over 1.3 km of open water, at least 2m deep, with clear entry and exits and unlike Canada, there are a limited number of suitable water bodies in Australia. Although a smaller AT-802F with amphibious floats capable of carrying 3000 litres became available in 2016. [ 60 ] [ 35 ]