On Friday, February 27, DPS Southern Air Rescue (Ranger 54) participated in a joint training effort aimed at responding to wild fires in Arizona. The training took place in the Madera Canyon area, south of Tucson.
In addition to DPS, crews from the Arizona State Forestry Division, southern Pima County Fire Departments, and Santa Cruz County Fire Departments, joined in the training.
On a yearly basis pilots with DPS Air Rescue have to be re-certified in flying Ranger 54 with the “Bambi” bucket, filling it and performing water drops on a fire.
In addition to practicing water drops, fire crews on the ground interacted with the Air Rescue crew by radio and directing the pilot where to place the water drop for maximum effect. Dale Brown, State Aviation and Communications manager for the State Forestry Department said that by working together in training exercises, the collaboration between State Forestry and DPS improves substantially. The collaboration ultimately benefits the citizens of Arizona with faster response times to wild land fires.
According to various sources, forest fires could be used as a weapon by terrorists with which to deplete resources and occupy first reponders.