Fire Shelters, Lassie, and Other Stuff

[nedsim]

We were told that yes, it had been done on the Peninsula. It worked until the wind came up. It was spendy. It didn't become common and had to have nice big logs to yard in order to make any money. We know what happened to that. Then there was the deadly helistat, which was deadly and a weird idea to begin with.

I worked 3 or 4 months for Evergreen Helicopters on one of their logging operations. (Anyone remember them?) No doubt the most dangerous job I've ever had. I'm trying to imagine how working around the Helistat would compare, if it worked. Presumably heavier loads, but more leisurely. A turn with the Sikorsky S-64s Evergreen flew took on the order of five minutes and weighed up to 20,000 (*) pounds. I worked on the landing and it took some scrambling to untangle the jack-strawed pile of logs that had been dropped, untangle and retrieve the chokers, coil and bundle them and hook them to the little 'copter that was also buzzing around who would return them to the choker setters. And get it done before the next turn dropped so there wasn't an even bigger mess on the landing.

* In a few spots where we worked the landing was on a hillside above the cut and the helicopter's approach was nearly vertical. The first thing we would see was the blades rising from below. You could get a sense of how big a load was on by how much the blades curved up at the tips. Six 36' long blades. They bent a couple due to overloads while I was with them.

 

[slowp]

Yes, I remember Evergreen. But I can't remember having a sale that they worked on. It was Columbia and Erickson and lastly a gypo outfit from Montana. The Montanians blew an engine right about when the 2008 depression hit.

Columbia and Erickson were both logging a big fire salvage. They had landings fairly close to each other. It turned into an unofficial competition. I didn't know chokers could be attached to chokers to chokers....and several bunches of lodgepole dangled from the helicopter. Part of the sale was cut with bunchers as it was winter with 6 or more feet of snow on the ground and that wouldn't cause any soil compaction. Being a salvage, they had to get the pine logs out fast.

 

[nedsim]

Yes, I remember Evergreen. But I can't remember having a sale that they worked on. It was Columbia and Erickson and lastly a gypo outfit from Montana. The Montanians blew an engine right about when the 2008 depression hit.

Columbia and Erickson were both logging a big fire salvage. They had landings fairly close to each other. It turned into an unofficial competition. I didn't know chokers could be attached to chokers to chokers....and several bunches of lodgepole dangled from the helicopter. Part of the sale was cut with bunchers as it was winter with 6 or more feet of snow on the ground and that wouldn't cause any soil compaction. Being a salvage, they had to get the pine logs out fast.

I'd forgotten about the strung together chokers, it didn't happen very often, and when it did I think it was usually because the hook cable was not long enough to safely reach a steep side-slope. The length of the hook cable was chosen based on topography. Long for steep terrain, short for gentler slopes.

As I mentioned when I jumped into this thread, this was the summer/fall of 1974. When I signed on we were operating on national forest land near Hood River, but on the WA side of the river. After that we moved north to the area around Gold Bar. I left when they were getting ready to move to Forks for the winter. The prospect of working outside in that climate for the winter was not appealing. But the big reason was that as much as I enjoyed the company and antics of the characters on the crew, spending the winter cooped up with them didn't seem like a good idea, mental health-wise.

 

[slowp]

They were stringing chokers together to make payload that time. I took some pictures but it was before digital cameras and I used slide film. You just see about 4 or more bunches of small pine underneath the helicopter.

We were having an on the job meeting about something. The snow had melted enough in that spot so I could wear my leather caulks. The fallers saw my feet and made fun of them and things disintegrated into comedy.

I did notice that Columbia's people had newer travel trailers to stay in than the Erickson folks.

 

[madhatte]

I've seen pictures of those first-gen conical shelters before, but that's the first footage of them I've ever seen. I sure wouldn't want to stake my life on one of those.

 

[slowp]

I've seen pictures of those first-gen conical shelters before, but that's the first footage of them I've ever seen. I sure wouldn't want to stake my life on one of those.

Or share with a stinky dog.

Hmmm. If one shared a shelter with a wet stinky dog, would that make a steam hazard? Ooooh, I gross myself out this morning. Back to coffee.

 

[madhatte]

If one shared a shelter with a wet stinky dog, would that make a steam hazard?

Gonna guess "yes".