James Robinson captured some incredible footage of the helicopter refilling its water buckets today as the winds died down enough for them to take to the sky.
Cape Town, South Africa (20 April 2021) – The wind in Cape Town has been the main concern for the raging wildfires. Thankfully the winds died down this morning and the helicopters were able to take to the sky and aid in putting out fires.
The helicopter water buckets vary in size depending on what the helicopter’s capacity is but they can range from over 200 litres to 9,000 litres.
A helicopter bucket is a specialised bucket suspended on a cable carried by the helicopter to deliver water for aerial firefighting. Each bucket has a release valve on the bottom which is controlled by the crew on board.
The use of helicopters is great because it allows for teams to reach parts of the mountain that are not possible for teams on foot. Helicopters also have the ability to prevent fires from spreading further by extinguishing the fire as it heads in new directions.
Take a look at the video of the helicopters refilling their buckets to go waterbomb the fires. It was filmed by James Robinson and the footage gave us chills!
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