By Cotton Puryear, Virginia National Guard Public Affairs
FORT BARFOOT, Va. - Virginia National Guard aviation crews assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, trained on aerial fire suppression with UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters equipped with water buckets during a prescribed burn.
Fort Barfoot Fire and Emergency Services personnel and staff from the Natural Resources Division of the Fort Barfoot Department of Public Works managed the prescribed burn March 12.
“The aerial fire suppression training conducted between the Virginia Army National Guard aircrews and Fort Barfoot Fire and EMS represents a crucial opportunity to elevate aircrew proficiency and foster essential interagency collaboration for effective domestic response,” said Col. Craig Lewis, Virginia National Guard state army aviation officer. “Aerial fire suppression is a demanding mission that requires focused training, emphasizing power management for external loads, crew coordination and familiarity among agencies, ensuring a unified and synchronized effort among our aircrews and Fire and EMS partners.”
Experienced aviation crews maintained currency and others trained to be certified to fly water bucket missions. VNG aviation maintains four crews for immediate rapid response for state missions and trains quarterly.
“I am immensely proud of our team’s dedication,” Lewis said. “Our aircrews are deeply committed to the mission and training and will certainly be ready to answer the call when needed.”
Since mid-January, Fort Barfoot has conducted prescribed burning of 4,760 acres.
“We typically average around 6,500 acres for prescribed burning each year,” said Edwin Foster, the Wildland Fire Program manager in Fort Barfoot Fire and Emergency Services. “Weather conditions and training play a large part in what we’re able to accomplish. We still have around 4,000 acres we’d like to get burned this spring.”
Foster said training with the aviation crews allows them to practice water drops and recertify on live fire in a more controlled environment than on a wildfire event.
“It also allows fire personnel on the installation to gain an understanding on how the helicopters could be used here if ever needed for a wildfire on post,” he said. “The trainings we’ve conducted so far have given valuable insight on the communication and coordination needed to be successful, as well as allowing us to identify several timing issues that could arise during water drop operations.”
