Fort McCoy’s fire and forestry officials and aircrew and Black Hawk helicopters with the Wisconsin National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment of Madison, teamed March 28 to complete prescribed-burn and conduct fire-suppression training in Training Area Bravo-26 on the installation’s South Post.
The event built on a continuing relationship between the Fort McCoy prescribed burn team and the Wisconsin National Guard training, said Forester Charles Mentzel with the Directorate of Public Works (DPW) Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch (NRB).
Mentzel said Fort McCoy is the ideal place to hold fire-suppression training with the Black Hawks and the water buckets, which are also known as “Bambi” buckets.
“We are a military training base, have the facilities to support the helicopters, and the land base to do the training,” Mentzel said. “The water sources also are on the installation, so helicopters don’t have to cross any public roadways while carrying water to the fire.”
