DS&E Helicopters

DSE Owned & Operated helicopters & Their Roles:

Rotary wing aircraft play a major role with four light helicopters (three Bell Jet Rangers and an Aerospatiale Squirrel) for fire detection and reconnaissance  and three medium helicopters (two Bell 212’s and one Bell 205) for fire bombing, rappelling and crew transport.

 

Australian Summer(Fire Season) “Hired” & “Borrowed” Helicopters:

Several other helicopters are also payed for by the Victorian Government(and almost all Australian States share and also pay for these) helicopters during the Australian summer. Two or three Erickson Sky Cranes are also available to every fire fighting agency in the nation along with many other helicopters, such as the NSW Westpac Rescue Chopper, Police helicopters etc, which are all used during the fire season, with their role usually being fire bombing in massive disasters, such as the 2002/3 Canberra(ACT)fires, Lysterfield(Vic), Craigeburn(Vic), Sydney(NSW), Perth(WA), Hobart(Tas), Bright(Vic), Yackandandah(Vic), Wodonga(Vic)-[See the Events and/or my listening/log book pages]

 

Fire Bombing Capabilities:

The two Bell 212’s & Bell 205 are all fitted with special “underbelly” firebombing tanks which are able to fill themselves from a wide range of water sources in approximately 55 seconds and dump 1400 litres of water or foam on a troublesome fire.

 

Special Arrangements with the CFA:

The DSE has a formal arrangement with the Country Fire Authority (CFA) to provide the CFA with helicopter resources for fighting in country Victoria. 

 

Summary:

 4 light helicopters- 3 Bell Jet Ranger’s & 1 Aerospatiale Squirrel; 3 medium helicopters-2 Bell 212’s & 1 Bell 205 plus those available for loan at times of major bushfires. Erickson Heli-tanker “Sky Crane”, kept at Essendon during TFBs etc, Callsign on air is Eric 44, Erickson 44 or “Elvis”

 

DS&E Aircraft

DSE Owned & Operated Aircraft & Their Roles:

Nine large agricultural style aircraft make up DS&E’s fixed wing firebombing fleet. These planes can carry up to 3200 litres of water, fire retardant slurry, or foam and have been the mainstay of aerial attack in Victoria for many years-with many “saves” notched up.

 

A Cessna 304 “Firescan 2” is used to carry and operate DS&E’s airborne infra-red line scanner for fire detection and mapping. This mapping system has been specially developed to provide “real time” delivery of fire maps to fire fighters and fire control points on the ground.

 

Aircraft are also used by  DS&E for it’s other land and resource management responsibilities including aerial photography, wildlife surveys, fisheries enforcement and aerial seeding for forest regeneration.

Aircraft Bases:

 

To Support the aircraft fleet a state wide network of fourteen bases are maintained, housing an airstrip, water supplies, fuel supplies and all foam and retardant slurry mixing equipment.