Working on Fire Day, Fisantekraal

Thursday, 15 December

For the first time in 3 years, I remembered the Working on Fire ‘display’ held at Fisantekraal Airfield at the start of every fire season in the Cape. This is when all the aircraft and pilots come together to put on a little show (normally for VIP’s) demonstrating their fire fighting capabilities.

When I arrived at Fisantekraal all I could see were pilots in their yellow and blue flight suits. I wandered around a bit, chatted to some of the pilots, and then made my way to a gleaming Ayres Turbo Thrush. This was the first time I’d ever seen one ‘in the flesh’ (I was going to say metal, but, it’s made of both metal and fabric...). Beautiful.

While everyone was milling around waiting for the demonstration, I made my way up the tower. It was erected a while ago for a film shoot, and never taken down. Many months have passed and the paint has faded, and the wood is starting to look a little tired. Needless to say I didn’t feel too comfortable standing on the thing.

However, the view was awesome; to the West, Table Mountain. And to the East were 8 proud Huey’s, 3 majestic Turbo Thrush’s, 2 monster Dromader’s, and 4 faithful Spotters. Heaven.

The ‘event’ started with a few speeches, and the ground crew based at Fisantekraal strutting their stuff. They marched around (it looked better than the marching I’ve seen some people in the military do), and then sang the national anthem. People always have something good or bad to say about Working on Fire, but that day, I saw a dedicated group of people that seemed to be proud of their job.

The flying side of things kicked off with Spotter 3 spluttering to life. That was followed by three Turbo Thrush’s turbine’s slowly spooling up (they were so quiet that I only heard them for the first time when they applied power to taxi). And then one Huey. And another. And yet another. And last but not least, the little whine and growl of a Dromader.

The yellow machines looked good, and they sounded even better. The thump of the Huey blades shaking the ground, the drone of the Dromader rattling your bones.

One of the Huey’s got airborne and circled just to the north of the field, a Working on Fire crew on board. The Spotter then took off and circled the field, as if he were spotting for a real fire. The other two Huey’s set off towards a dam to fill their 1000l bambi buckets. And then, one by one, the bomber’s took off.

Once all the aircraft taking part were airborne, the first Huey dropped off the crew and they began beating the ‘fire’. The bomber’s then came in one by one, and dropped their load of water. As soon as they release the water, they pretty much shoot up into the air, it’s a sight that won’t get old. The pilots of the more manoeuvrable Turbo Thrush’s seemed to be having a lot of fun.

After the bomber’s, the Huey’s came in and emptied their bambi buckets. By this stage the crew on the ground were suitably soaked.
To end off, the bomber’s did a low-level fly-past each, the main gear mere metres from the ground (I pictured a lush green field below them, instead of the nasty concrete runway), and the Huey’s thundered past before landing.

It was great chatting to some of the pilots. Looking into the cockpit of the Turbo Thrush’s was even better. And hearing all those aircraft was the icing on the cake. May you all have a safe fire season!