Keith Vandervort
ELY – U.S. Forest Service crews used the Ely Airport for a helicopter training session last Friday as the trainees learned and refreshed their skills in working with rotary aircraft while fighting wildfires in the North Country.
Eric Holzem, USFS Helitack supervisor for District 9, including the Kawishiwi District, oversaw the training as eight students on the ground performed training drills in cargo transport via external load.
“The skills are needed for transport into and out of remote sites for fire suppression, or building projects in areas that are hard to reach any other way,” he said
Materials were lowered to the ground by tether from a helicopter hovering overhead. A crew from Brainerd Helicopter Services, Inc., under contract with the USFS, was on hand last week and participated in reconnaissance and water suppression duties at the Rock Island Lake fire near Lake Two in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness east of Ely.