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A helicopter bucket or helibucket is a specialized bucket suspended on a cable carried by a helicopter to deliver water for aerial firefighting. The design of the buckets allows the helicopter to hover over a water source—such as a lake , river , pond , or tank —and lower the bucket into the water to refill it.
A wide variety of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft are used for aerial firefighting. In 2003, it was reported that "The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management own, lease, or contract for nearly 1,000 aircraft each fire season, with annual expenditures in excess of US$250 million in recent years".
The Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter that is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters. Its name, Chinook, is from the Native American Chinook people of Oregon and Washington state. The Chinook was originally designed by Vertol, which had begun work in 1957 on a new tandem-rotor helicopter, designated as the Vertol Model 107 or V-107.
A Chinook helicopter dropping water on the Moose Fire on July 20, 2022.
While the newer helicopters have opened up the possibility for 24/7 fire fighting, it is not typically practiced, Anderson said. To avoid crew exhaustion, firefighting efforts often end about 2 a.m.
The CH-47 U.S. Army Chinook with Richie’s face painted on its tail is now flying through Western North Carolina to deliver food and water.
When water is required to refill a fire engine, water delivery is vital. The typical water tender carries 1,200 US gallons (4,500 L) of water to support fire engines. In addition to supplying fire engines directly, tenders may fill water reservoirs for bucket-dropping helicopters when a lake or reservoir is not nearby.
Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters land after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Keaton Beach, Florida, on September 27, 2024. ... The guard company averages about 14,000 pounds of food and water ...