Nat. Guard Helicopter Helping With Wildfires Not From Pangborn

A helicopter from the Washington National Guard is helping to battle wildfires in eastern Washington.   

The UH-60 Blackhawk will be used to drop water on the fires.  

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National Guard Facilities Commander Captain Taylor Payne says the aircraft is not coming from the Guard's new operation at Pangborn Airport.  

“DNR (Department of Natural Resources) is asking for water bucket support for the fires to supplement,” said Payne. “And our Lakotas, our 72s, they don’t do fire buckets because of the size of them. So, they are not supporting the fire in that capacity.” 

The Pangborn National Guard base is getting three versions of the same helicopter being used to battle the fires this summer. 

They'll arrive in East Wenatchee later this year. 

Payne says there's looking forward to assisting with wildfire help next season. 

"Our whole main job and objective is to help out the community and the state with whatever emergencies that persist and come up, no matter what," said Payne. "It was just unfortunate timing for this specific facility, for the aircraft that are available to fully support the operation." 

So far, four UH-72 Lakota helicopters have been moved in from Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane to the Pangborn operation. Two more will follow in October. The three UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters are moving later in the year from Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Tacoma. The UH-60 now being used for Eastern Washington wildfires came for Joint Base Lewis-McChord.  

The Pangborn based Lakota copters will support wildfire response with fire mapping, etc. as they're equipped with camera systems. The Blackhawk copters will perform medevac operations such as mountain rescues when needed in addition to water bucket drops for wildfires.  

The National Guard relocated to Pangborn from Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane in June.
A ribon cuting for the operation was held earlier in late June.