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Jackson Hotshot Detail

I spent 30 days with the Jackson Hotshots in February 2002.  Most of the time was spent on US Fish and Wildlife  Refuges in South Carolina and Georgia.  It was a great opportunity to get some quality RX Fire experience, and I had an awesome time.  Most of the burns were conducted on the Carolina Sandhills NWR, Santee NWR, and Savannah Coastal NWR.  Below is a slideshow that shows some of the aerial ignition devices that we utilized.  There are more pictures on the bottom of this page, just click the thumbnails to see the full size picture.


-This is a slideshow of 5 pictures taken during a Prescribed Fire on the Carolina Sandhills Wildlife Refuge in South Carolina. Aerial ignitions are used quite frequently for RX Fires in the southern states. These pictures show the helicopter taking passes over the interior of the unit, dropping Ping Pong balls. The balls are filled with a Potassium compound and as they are run through the Primo machine they are injected with antifreeze. This creates a chemical reaction about 2 minutes after the balls hit the ground and they ignite.


 Picture of one of the four wheeler torches that was commonly used in ignition operations. Tony Jordan, Gordy Meyers, and myself standing in front of a burn on Blackbeard Island NWR, located about 10 miles off the coast of Savannah. Tony, T-Bone and Rowland doing some prep saw work at the Carolina Sandhills NWR near Hartsville, SC. Blackbeard Island was once used as a quarantine island for victims of yellow fever. T-Bone and I posing in front of the island crematorium.
The crew carrier (crummy) for the Jackson, MS Hotshots. Picture of me hand igniting a burn on the Carolina Sandhills NWR. Picture of Rx Burn on Pinkney Island NWR near Hilton Head, SC taken from the helicopter on the ride back to the mainland. Picture of a wild hog that was killed on Blackbeard Island NWR, the refuge is designated Atlantic Tortoise breeding habitat and the hogs eat tortoise eggs.
Marshalling the helicopter down after igniting Pinkney Island NWR, picture taken by Rowland Clark. Three Jackson Hotshots monitoring the burn on Blackbeard Island NWR. Old growth oak trees and spanish moss burning on Blackbeard Island NWR. Standing on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean on Blackbeard.
Lighting the marsh reeds on Pinkney Island. Rob White, Will Hudson, and myself. Rowland lighting off the reeds on Pinkney Island. Taking a break to PM the saws after doing prep work at Carolina Sandhills NWR.
Pretending I am Tarzan and swinging from a vine at Blackbeard Island. Bell 206 that was used for aerial ignitions on the majority of the Rx burns that we did. Dirty and Rob igniting the line as the helicopter makes passes and lights the interior. Picture of a gator on Blackbeard Island. The Savannah Coastal Refuge system has a very healthy population of alligators.


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