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Careers in ENR
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Careers in ENR: Air Attack Officer
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Andrea Camirand.
Yellowknife, NT You may have seen it on a summer day in the Northwest Territories; a large four engine aircraft with a tank on its underbelly, readying for take off from an airport destined for some fire-site perhaps near your community or far-off in the wilderness. The airplane lifts off slowly with its big engines rumbling, and soon its cargo of fire retardant will be dropped through gated doors from its tank to the earth, in an all out assault on the head of a forest fire. This airplane, some people call them water bombers, but that is not always entirely correct, is what is known in the fire business as an air tanker. It is always lead by a smaller swifter airplane that has two people on board; a pilot and an Air Attack Officer. This smaller airplane, known as the bird-dog on the fire-line, guides the air tanker to the fire and directs where the load of water or fire retardant that the tanker is carrying, is dropped. This action is used to control or stop the spread of the head of the fire, and buy time until ground forces get there to suppress the fire. This action requires team-work and the person who co-ordinates this important function on forest fires in the NWT is the Air Attack Officer. Andrea Camirand is an Air Attack Officer, and with the help of an air tanker group and many ENR staff, attacks forest fires by air. Andrea is based in Yellowknife, NWT and co-ordinates a group of CL-215s during the summer fire season. The Cl-215s are water skimmer aircraft and they use foam retardant mixed in with the water to create a product which is dropped on the fire. She also may work with the DC-4 aircraft which is primarily a chemical retardant aircraft. That airplane carries a premixed fire retardant product pumped in to the airplane at the Air Tanker Base. An AAO is responsible for the plan of attack on the fire and safe air operations. A majority of the time, an AAO is flying in and around forest fires, analyzing the fire behavior and planning the next move to suppress the fire. Safety of all resources is a priority for Andrea along with stopping the spread of the fire. Andrea's role in forest fire operations is key to mounting an effective Initial Attack on forest fires and keeping forest fires small. The ground forces appreciate the work that is done by the Air Attack forces and together they have been responsible over the years for preventing heavy losses of our forest lands. Next time you see one of these heavy air tankers know that at the
front of it, is an Air Attack Officer leading another air attack
operation on our forests. We appreciate the work being done by young
people in our Department like Andrea Camirand who regularly carry
out these kinds of duties. Other Careers in ENR: | Regional Forester | Inventory Forester | Renewable Resource Officer II | Renewable Resource Officer III | Air Attack Officer |
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Career Chat Who is Andrea Camirand? I have lived in the north all my life and have the utmost respect for the people of the north and the land. My mother was born in Aklavik and raised in Inuvik with her seven brothers and one sister. She has raised me to love the north and it will always be home. I always come back but have traveled the world extensively to experience other cultures and places. Who
influenced you most in your choice of a career? What
are the best parts of your job? What
are some challenges you had to overcome?
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Copyright © 2004 Forest Management - Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Government of the Northwest Territories |
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