Colorado's newest firefighting helicopter shelved for several weeks during wildfire season

CBS News

9 hours ago

In a case of bad timing, a helicopter purchased by the state for the specific purpose of fighting wildfires has been taken out of service in the middle of the summer fire season.
The "state of the art" Firehawk is undergoing required regular maintenance, according to the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control. An agency spokesperson told CBS Colorado the craft was taken out of service July 13 for thorough, mandated inspections.
Several wildfires were ignited by lightning strikes on Colorado Western Slope the same day the Firehawk was taken out of service. Four of the larger fires - the South Rim, Turner Gulch, Sowbelly and Deer Creek incidents - are still burning.
"We currently have 5 mechanics working on this....inspection to get it back up and operational ASAP," CDFPC's Tracy LeClair stated. The normal duration of such inspections is several weeks, LeClair added.
"We are hoping for sooner than that," LeClair stated. "They understand the urgency of getting us back up as soon as possible, without compromising safety."
The Firehawk is a version of the military's UH-70 Black Hawk built by Sikorsky. The Si70i's wildfire conversion features a 1,000-gallon belly tank, extended landing gear, and a retractable snorkel that can refill the tank in less than a minute.
Colorado ordered the aircraft following the 2020 wildfire season, one of the state's worst on record. The fires that year included the Cameron Peak, Pine Gulch, Grizzly Creek, Williams Ford, Middle Fork, East Troublesome and Calwood blazes. Three of those - Cameron Peak, Pine Gulch and East Troublesome - were the largest wildfires (in acreage) in state history.
Colorado's legislature approved almost $31 million in 2021 for the purchase of the Firehawk and the leasing of other helicopters until its arrival. State officials celebrated the purchase in a press conference.
"Not only will the Firehawk be an additional resource for aggressive and early initial attack," said Mike Morgan, Director of Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, at that press conference, "but it can also be used on longer duration wildfires."
The state's Firehawk recently reached 480 hours of flight time, necessitating the scheduled maintenance, CDFPC's Tracy LeClair explained.
"The military has the same scheduled maintenance and is down the same amount of time to perform these Safety Inspections as required by the manufacturer," LeClair stated. "The critical nature of performing quality maintenance on an aircraft is not like an ordinary vehicle. It cannot be postponed, and one mistake, malfunction, or component failure can be catastrophic and fatal, unlike rolling to the edge of a road and waiting for a tow truck when your car breaks down."
The maintenance includes some disassembly of the Firehawk to inspect the airframe, and the flight control systems and components running throughout it. Both engines will be removed during the process.
LeClair confirmed a second Firehawk is on order.
"We were planning to perform this inspection in the winter months, but we had no choice on this 1st helicopter," she said. "Once we have our second helicopter, we can stagger the maintenance to ensure one aircraft is available at all times. We don't have a solid delivery date for the 2nd one yet, but it is tentatively scheduled for delivery and acceptance late summer/early fall."