Huron-Perth Boomers Winter 2023-24

y Elizabeth Bundy-Cooper
LOCAL SPOTLIGHT
DK: About 1,000 lbs of water and it approaches
at 100 miles an hour! Once the water is released,
that plane then levitates dramatically with the loss
of weight.
EBC: If I spot a fire while in northern Ontario
who do I call?
DK: 301-FIRE is the number to call if you spot a
fire. Many fires are caught by commercial airlines
flying at altitude. So, for example, a WestJet pilot
may see smoke flying over Thunder Bay and will
call us. We will send a detection pilot to check it
out. Sometimes, if it’s a smaller fire, we send out
helicopters from the closest base with fire rangers
on board with water pumps, hoses, and generators
who land on the ground to put out fires. It’s very
dangerous and a big operation.
EBC: This sounds much more risky than acting!
Describe a time when you were scared.
DK: I have been scared three times – all of them
have been at night and I was solo. Once I was flying
in complete darkness – we call that the “black hole
of illusion” when you can’t see anything, you don’t
even know where the horizon is. Your sense of where
the sky and ground are completely disappears. So,
I felt like I was losing control of the plane. I had to
only rely on the instrument panel to fly the plane.
There are certainly elements of risk when we are
circling fire and smoke. We are literally air traffic
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WINTER 2023/24 • 7