Complete MPSIMS about my new job as a Fire-Mapper.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I just thought I’d share with everyone the details of my new job.

I guess the official title would be “Infrared Camera Technician”, but I much prefer “Camera Geek”.

I’ve been working for a helicopter company for about a year now, and have since been thrust into this new position. The company mainly works in aerial application (spraying), but has recently purchased a kick-ass infrared camera. For the time being, we are using it for the mapping of wildfires, but the camera has an immense number of other applications.

Basically what I do is fly around the fire in a helicopter (I don’t pilot the ship) and collect infrared data from the fire. I then give the data to our GIS technician who projects the data onto maps which are provided to the Incident Commanders of the fire. The maps tell them exactly where the fire perimeter is, and how hot each division is.

Thusfar, I’ve worked on the Toolbox Fire and the Biscuit Fire, both in Oregon. The Biscuit Fire (formerly the Florence Fire) is the largest fire in Oregon’s history at 500,000 acres.

I have to say, seeing an entire mountain range on fire is quite a sight to behold.

You can view a photo of the helicopter I fly in at: http://www.avweb.com/potw/images/week0234_med.jpg

2

Wow, is that a wildfire in the background?

3

Yes that’s the fire in the background. This picture was taken on a day when the fire was really raging. The plume of smoke is coming from a fire that was about twenty miles away. It rained ashes on us for the better part of three hours after the photo was taken, and then the wind changed direction.