Black Hawk crews drop thousands of gallons of water on industrial fire

FOX23 News at 9 p.m.

HENRY COUNTY, Tenn., (KBSI) — A Tennessee Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter assisted firefighters battling an industrial fire at the Sigma Renew 360 plant in Henry County on May 8.

According to the Tennessee National Guard, the response came at the request of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.

A UH-60V Black Hawk helicopter assigned to the 1-230th Assault Helicopter Battalion departed Jackson around 5:40 p.m. equipped with a Bambi Bucket used to drop large amounts of water on fires.

The four-member flight crew had participated in wildland firefighting training with the Tennessee Forestry Department earlier that day.

Officials said the aircraft arrived at the fire scene shortly after 6 p.m. and began collecting water from nearby lakes and ponds before making repeated drops onto the fire.

The helicopter’s Bambi Bucket holds about 620 gallons of water. Over the course of about two and a half hours, the crew made 14 water drops totaling approximately 8,680 gallons.

The aircraft returned to Jackson around 10:30 p.m. after completing firefighting operations.