Aviation is playing a crucial part in battling wildfires in Northern Minnesota
"It's crucial. Right now, with this year's fire season and the fire behavior we're seeing, we couldn't do without the aircraft," said Matt Woodwick, the Assistant Wildfire Aviation Supervisor with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
It's all hands on deck in the Northland as at least three large wildfires continue to grow. Those extra eyes from above have been scanning for smoke for days — as long as the threat is high.
"Early detection is key. It's hard to fight those fires when they grow you you want to keep them as small as possible, so on these windy days, they're not growing into, you know, 100, 200 acre fires," said Tracie Walter, CEO & President of Bemidji Aviation Services, one of the contracted DNR partners.
With more than 33,000 acres already burning, the job is even more draining. The DNR teams up with pilots across the state acting as detection teams. They're split up across 15 zones — flying set routes for hours at a time.
"A single engine airplane that flies a pattern like a GPS point to a GPS point. When they get to the point, they do a 360 degree turn, look around the area, and then move on. It's hot, it's bumpy. They're flying a smaller aircraft that would only hold four people, and on these hot, windy days, it's exhausting," said Walter, who is also a pilot.
If a fire is spotted from their Cessna C172, they call it in and the fight is on -- with dozens of aircraft above and hundreds more personnel on the ground— a fight that officials say is happening more and more.
"We used to have a rule of thumb every 2 out of 10 years we would have a fire season kind of like what we're seeing now. I do feel like those years are more frequent," said Woodwick.
Woodwick added the fight would be impossible without the teamwork with other federal agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
But even more important, is the help from the public — listening to burn bans and making sure all campfires are fully extinguished.
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