Fighting Fire Down Under

    This winter I was down in Australia with Erickson for the fire season down there. It was a great opportunity to get out and see some of the rest of the world. Operationally it was the same as fighting fire in the states. Just a few differences in dispatch times and personnel.

 My machine was based at Essendon Feilds, just outside of Melbourne. It was a pretty quite summer for the most part. We only flew about 30 hours. The guys on the west coast flew a lot more on the fires near Perth. And that's normal. Its warmer and dryer that direction. Our contract for this winter has come to an end this last week. So soon here my helicopter will be put on a container ship bound for long beach to fight fire once again on our west coast. Last I heard I was going to be based in Salmon ID, but that could change. One of the major this Ive learned from this job is how to be flexible. Destinations and schedules are always changing.

  Sadly I really didn't get to get out and see much of Australia. Other than going into down town Melbourne a couple different evenings, I spent a few days in Mansfeild, just north of Melbourne for a fire and I was able to go over to Ballarat to help another crew with a free turbine change. I would have enjoyed seeing more, but I was was only there for work, and we don't have days off when we are on tour.