It’s a tale practically as old as the relationship between fynbos and fire: A fire burning on the mountain side, tracing lines across the landscape, firefighters working tirelessly to tame the beast while the public looks on with a mixture of reverence and concern.

At this point, there’s a good chance someone will ask the question: “Where are the choppers?!” This question invites opinions, debates, insights and even insults from the knowing and unknowing alike, but more important it leaves the impression that the public are not protected due to negligence.

While the question does spark a series of debates, opinions and thoughts from across the spectrum, the answer is usually a lot simpler and more logical.

The availability question

Like any resource or tool, there is a finite number of firefighting choppers and bombers in South Africa. These aren’t only shared across areas, but also across seasons. South Africa is split into winter and summer-rainfall areas, with the former being the smallest geographical area by far. Roughly speaking, only the Western Cape, parts of the southern Cape and western coastal areas enjoy rain in the winter. In fact, while we are huddled by our fireplaces in the Western Cape winter, the rest of the country is likely running from fire to fire, because, unlike us, their summer-rainfall cycle means that they have a winter fire season.

This season typically escalates from June and July with the worst of it hitting in August into October, when dry thunderstorms race across the plains tossing out lighting strikes. Come summer, and those storms bring the rain to those areas, leaving the Western Cape hot, dry and ready for our turn to burn.

As such, it means that the fleet of aircraft migrate back and forth from the summer to the winter fire seasons. Fortunately for the Western Cape, it means that the aircraft shared between all the other provinces during the winter season are available solely to the Western Cape and Tsitsikamma for the summer.

Why does this matter? Well, say a large fire breaks out in the Kruger Park in February, finding a chopper to assist will be a challenge, because most of them are not only located in the Western Cape, but are likely busy fighting large fires here and can’t be released. But this works both ways. If fire breaks out in October in the western parts of the Western Cape, there simply aren’t any choppers around to help. The closest could be George (they have a year-long season), and that chopper could well be busy. Even if it isn’t, simply getting it to the fire will probably take too long to be worthwhile. In other words, choppers simply aren’t available to assist during these times.

So, what about availability in the summer? Well, even during the summer season when all the birds are in our nest, availability may be limited when there is more than one fire requiring aerial support. Aircraft are deployed where they are needed most based on immediate threats, to lives, livelihoods, infrastructure and so forth.

The weather conditions also affect availability; while these brave pilots are some of the best in the business, even they can’t fly in winds that are strong enough to slap them out of the sky.

The efficacy question

It’s important to note that there could be times that a chopper doesn’t head to a fire – even if there is one available in the middle of our fire season. In these instances, it’s a question of efficacy.

Choppers don’t put out fires. At least, that isn’t their primary function.

Rather, firefighters put out fires. The role of helicopters is to cool down the fire enough so as to make it possible for fighters to get on top of it. This is where they shine and thrive. In other words, if you can’t get firefighters onto a fire line to support the helicopter, then adding a chopper is almost always a gamble. Sometimes it works, many times it doesn’t.

If a fire is growing twice as fast as the chopper is putting down water, it should be a sign that in this instance, choppers are not a viable investment.

So while the presence of a helicopter can offer some level of comfort, the truth is that there isn’t a single-tool-for-every-job in firefighting. Just like a fire beater isn’t going to help put out a burning pine tree, a chopper doesn’t work for every scenario and every fire.

The cost question

Of course aerial resources are expensive. And while choppers are airborne, the responsible person will likely be worried about the impact on their own finances, or on their insurance.

But while the availability of funds does play a role, it never supersedes public safety. That means that if they need to fly, they probably will.

Where a rural fire can be safely suppressed without the need for helicopters, albeit by incorporated landscape level burns, then chances are that they won’t fly and save the money for the next fire that may very well need a chopper to save houses.

The trust question

The final question relating to choppers is the question of trust. Experienced firefighting teams, led by the Incident Commander, make tough decisions in difficult circumstances. They are always doing the absolute best they can. So it should be some comfort that if it were necessary and effective for a chopper to fly, then it would be flying. Trust is built together, and it starts with belief in those working tirelessly to help keep us safe.