![A BLISTERING INFERNO. A WHIRLING TORNADO. A SHOCKING CRASH](https://cdn.magzter.com/1357655529/1718864087/articles/x1ID2DCDF1720075921118/A-BLISTERING-INFERNO-A-WHIRLING-TORNADO-A-SHOCKING-CRASH.jpg)
BRAD BLOIS CAN VIVIDLY RECALL THE FIRST time he fought a wildfire from the air. He remembers the thick stench of smoke, the sound of chatter crackling through his radio, the physical vibrations of the other tankers nearby-a total sensory overload. "It was like drinking from a firehose," he says.
But he knew he'd made the right decision.
It was the spring of 2014, and a fire-likely ignited by sparks flung from railroad tracks-was tearing through a forest in Alberta, Canada. Blois had never worked as an aerial firefighter before.
Typically, on top of their training, new hires will fly as a copilot for their first few flights. Because Blois had significant flight experience, he started off as a captain immediately.
Blois, 49, began flying professionally in 1999. He spent the early years of his career picking up whatever seasonal flying opportunities came his way. First, he worked as a minnow trapper, which entailed flying a little Piper PA-8 Super Cub float plane-a "flying aquarium"-to small lakes dotted across northern Ontario, collecting bait fish that had been caught in traps overnight. He then became a pilot for commercial seaplane operators that primarily served sport-fishing lodges and Indigenous communities in the remote north. Later, he booked gigs flying to and from the Arctic and the Antarctic.
He first took up aerial firefighting a decade ago on the suggestion of his best friend, a fellow pilot named William Hilts. "It's the most fun you can have with your clothes on," Hilts had told him.
Hilts had long dreamed of becoming a pilot. His grandfather had served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and from him Hilts had inherited a uniform and mementos. During a camping trip when Hilts was 17, he and his family drove past a forest fire in northern British Columbia, where they caught glimpses of fire-bombers gliding through the air.
This story is from the July - August 2024 edition of Popular Mechanics US.
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This story is from the July - August 2024 edition of Popular Mechanics US.
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