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National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy Success Story

Specialized Helicopter Rescue Skills Prove Valuable
Yellowstone National Park
Cohesive Strategy - Response to Wildfire
2011

When the Flathead National Forest requested Yellowstone National Park's helicopter, Lama 230 US, and crew of six on August 9, 2011, it was a standard helicopter order to help the forest deal with a number of new fire starts. What the forest got, though, was the added bonus of a helicopter and crew prepared for shorthaul extrication, which proved invaluable the first day on assignment.

On August 10, two crew members flew to the Kalispell airport while the rest of the crew followed in the chase vehicles. When the helicopter arrived at the airport, the early crew met with Flathead NF Fire Management Officer Rick Connell. During the in-brief, crew lead Doug Kraus mentioned that the helicopter was shorthaul extrication capable. Not long after the in-brief and before the rest of the crew could arrive, Connell called Kraus and inquired more about the shorthaul program. Connell was exploring options for rescuing a smokejumper on the Peters Ridge Fire who had suffered a hard landing and was incapacitated due to a hip injury.

Kraus said rest of the crew would be arriving soon and, if needed, they would be ready for a short haul by 3:30 pm. Kraus received a call from dispatch at 4:00 pm requesting a shorthaul extrication for the injured smokejumper. The pilot plus two crew members flew a reconnaissance flight and determined the smokejumper was more seriously injured than first reported. The crew devised a plan and returned to the airport to load gear for the rescue. The helicopter left the airport at 4:20 pm for a staging area to configure for the short haul. Pilot Matt Turner flew to the scene to insert Kraus, who found the smokejumper packaged in a Kendrick Extraction Devise and a Sked stretcher. Other smokejumpers helped Kraus package the patient on the Ferno Scoop stretcher and into a Baumann Bag to keep him stable and warm.

After about five minutes on the ground, the helicopter pilot lowered the rope to Krause, who hooked up and Turner extracted both Kraus and the patient and flew them to the staging area. The patient was then transferred to LifeFlight and taken to an area hospital.

The helicopter crew performed another shorthaul rescue in Yellowstone, when a park employee was injured on Barronette Peak on August 5. The injured researcher was in an area that would have required a labor-intensive, low-angle technical rescue without the helicopter.

The Yellowstone helicopter was also ordered on the Pagami Fire in Minnesota, specifically because it was shorthaul capable. However, no extrications were necessary

Contact: Wendy Hafer, wendy_hafer@nps.gov, (307)344-2183.