FORT BARFOOT, Va. –
Virginia National Guard aviation crews assigned to the Sandston-based 2nd Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment, 29th Infantry Division trained on aerial fire suppression with UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters equipped with water buckets March 12, 2025, during a prescribed burn at Fort Barfoot, Virginia. Fort Barfoot Fire and Emergency Services personnel managed the prescribed burn along with the staff from Natural Resources Division of the Fort Barfoot Department of Public Works.
“The aerial fire suppression training conducted between the Virginia Army National Guard aircrews and Fort Barfoot Fire and EMS represents a crucial opportunity to elevate aircrew proficiency and foster essential interagency collaboration for effective domestic response,” said Col. Craig Lewis, Virginia National Guard state army aviation officer. “Aerial fire suppression is a demanding mission that requires focused training, emphasizing power management for external loads, crew coordination and familiarity among agencies, ensuring a unified and synchronized effort among our aircrews and Fire and EMS partners.”
Trained aviation crews were able to maintain currency in a more realistic environment in addition to more personnel getting required training for certification to fly water bucket missions. VNG aviation maintains four crews for immediate rapid response for state missions and trains quarterly in different environments including prescribed burns and mountain training areas.
“I am immensely proud of our team's dedication,” Lewis said. “Our aircrews are deeply committed to the mission and training and will certainly be ready to answer the call when needed.”
The prescribed burn helped to support military training by reducing fuel loads in the area, thereby lessening the risk for dangerous and intense wildfires that can be caused by incendiary devices and lead to training downtime. Other objectives of the burn were to improve wildlife habitat and timber stand improvement in forest management areas.
Since mid-January, Fort Barfoot has prescribed burned around 4,760 acres.
“We typically average around 6,500 acres for prescribed burning each year,” said Edwin Foster, the Wildland Fire Program manager in Fort Barfoot Fire and Emergency Services. “Weather conditions and training play a large part in what we’re able to accomplish. We still have around 4,000 acres we’d like to get burned this spring.”
Training with the aviation crews allows them to practice water drops and recertify on live fire in a more controlled environment than on a wildfire event, Foster said.
“It also allows fire personnel on the installation to gain an understanding on how the helicopters could be used here if ever needed for a wildfire on post,” he said. “The trainings we’ve conducted so far have given valuable insight on the communication and coordination needed to be successful, as well as allowing us to identify several timing issues that could arise during water drop operations.”
Read more about the VNG’s aerial fire suppression support to Madison County in November 2023 at
https://vngpao.info/eu2zuszs and view photos of support to Patrick County at
https://vngpao.info/bj48k8be.