Wildland Firefighting

Henderson Aviation is currently contracted by federal, state, and private agencies to support their fire suppression efforts. We have also been providing helicopter support to the United States Forest Service since the 1960s. Our experienced pilots and fleet of specially equipped helicopters are recruited to fly to wildland hotspots around the Northwest and mid-United States.

The use of helicopters improves fire fighters’ efforts in gathering critical information needed to create and implement fire management plans. Once a fire has been extinguished, our helicopters can also spread stabilizing seed to restart vegetation and prevent erosion.

The wildland firefighting suppression activities that we provide include:

• Water drops
• Initial attack
• Air attack platform
• Aerial ignition

We have several fuel trucks and service vehicles that we utilize during wildfires. Our Mobile Command Post (MCP) can be used to manage aircraft operations from the helibase.

At Henderson Aviation, we are on-call year round to provide the best aerial firefighting support possible. We are proud to serve our community by protecting national forests, as well as public and private lands.

“We spent 14 days at the Dirty Face Fire working as helicopter crew members on your helicopter N3913N. We were very impressed with your pilots’ professionalism and work ethic. Every morning they had the aircraft ready to fly before briefing started. They were at the morning and evening briefings, on time, every day.

 

The pilots were always ready to do their jobs, and anticipated things that would make the mission more efficient. They would figure out where the fuel truck might need to be relocated to and where the closest water source for bucket work would be.

 

We have worked with a lot of good pilots and fuel truck drivers in our job with the Forest Service, but we’ve never written to any of their employers before. Their work ethic, professionalism and graciousness were so far above most teams, that we felt it was worth it to let you know your pilots represent Henderson Aviation in the best possible way. We look forward to getting to work with your company again in the future.”

 

~ Bruce Akker and Mo Kelley Akker