Last week, the fellas came back from a scan and they had 16 identified hot spots,” said Smith. “We’re still getting helicopter traffic in the afternoons hitting hot spots. This gives afternoon crews targets where they need to drop water on the fire using what’s called a ‘bambi bucket’. This helicopter, Smith said, scans the area where the fire is. “I currently have a light-duty helicopter here that goes up in the early morning hours to identify hot areas,” said Smith. The airport was to scheduled to welcome five helicopters – however, the number of blazes and because of how spread out many of them are, four other helicopters were deployed elsewhere – there are still a couple that come and go when assistance is required. Since early June, the small airport has been transformed into a Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) basecamp and pit stop for helicopters to refuel and fight nearby fires, most notably Kirkland Lake 5 burning about 40 kilometres southwest of the airport. “We do our best to accommodate them on the quick turns,” said airport manager James Smith. But through this time of scorch and flame, a small regional airport has been a key pit stop in helping helicopters refuel before they need to get back in the sky en route to fight these fires.įor weeks, the tarmac at the Earlton-Timiskaming Regional Airport has seen a lot of helicopter traffic.
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