A recently released report from the U.S. Forest Service contains details about the dramatic rescue of a wildland firefighter from the Pole Creek wildfire in Oregon in September.
A summarized by KTVZ (http://bit.ly/SzTJ8T), the firefighter climbed about a water bucket from a helicopter and was removed from the path of fast-moving flames at the fire near Sisters.
On Friday, September 28, a task force leader and a water-dropping helicopter were doing bucket work on the west side of the wildland fire. The weather was fairly tame and fire activity was minimal.
Just after 12:55 p.m., as the helicopter was leaving to refuel, the pilot noticed the fire kicking up, closing off evacuation routes for the firefighter. He radioed down, warning of the danger. After some cajoling, the firefighter assented to the pilot’s request to get into the water bucket. The pilot then transported him a half-mile away to safety.
As they were flying away, the pilot looked back and said he believed the pick-up area already was engulfed in flames.
Read more details at http://bit.ly/SzTJ8T, or download the Forest Service report HERE (PDF, 2.97 MB).
