All Australian owned and operated McDermott Aviation Group has been providing assets to fight the long-running fire on Fraser Island in Queensland's North over the last several weeks. Simon McDermott from McDermott aviation advised that one of their company Bell 214B water-bombing helicopters dropped over 1 MILLION liters (264,000 Gallons) in a 3 day period that consisted of 353 individual drops conducted over the last weekend on the blaze that is finally coming under control thanks to the efforts of aerial firefighting crews consisting of multiple helicopters and several LAT aircraft.
McDermott Aviation operates 15 water-bombing Bell214B’s - the Worlds largest single engine heavy-lift helicopter, in addition to a Bell214ST (super transporter) known as #Guardian1. McDermott Aviation operates its fleet across Australia and around the world from its headquarters in Qld.
The Bell214B delivers a load of up to 3000 liters (792 Gallons) of water, foam, or fire retardant, whichever is preferred by the agency directing operations on each fire. The company's Bell214ST can drop up to 3500 liters (924 Gallons) per load. Both machines are also capable of loading both regular and saltwater in fire bucket configuration.
McDermott Aviation's 214’s are each certified in the Australian transport category and can be used to carry firefighters or evacuate residents if required giving the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service one of its most versatile fire fighting tools.
