Fire ops in Wanaka

Date: January 9th, 2018, Posted by webstudio

Helicopters come in handy for all manner of interesting jobs, one that’s little known but becomes quite obvious with increased media attention is their usefulness in fighting fires.

This summer has been a hot dry one for Central Otago.  We have already been called to help fight a number of fires.

The recent blaze in Wanaka on Mt Alpha put us all in the spot light.  Locals watched from their balconies while up to eight helicopters joined the massive effort to fight this scrub fire.  It burned nearly 200 ha over multiple days.

With a capacity to carry up to 1200ltrs, a turn around time of between 3-4mins and the ability to quickly access steep terrain having helicopters on hand to help fight this fire was a godsend.

We tip our hats to all those who worked tirelessly together to put this one out!

Posted in: Blog