A North Otago helicopter company has boosted its firefighting capabilities to offer the biggest capacity monsoon bucket in the South Island.
Central South Island Helicopters Ltd director and pilot John Oakes said firefighting had become an integral part of business and his company's new monsoon bucket, with a 2000 litre capacity, offered the New Zealand Fire Service another firefighting option.
''It's so critical when you get on a job to be geared up and being proficient makes such a difference to the outcome of the job,'' Mr Oakes said.
The bucket, which will be used on the Bell ''Huey'', the Herbert company's main lifting helicopter, was brought from the North Island.
''We bought it and refurbished it, set it up to the latest specifications - which is a foam injector reservoir in the bucket and the drop plate going inwards instead of outwards for a more direct output,'' Mr Oakes said.
''We've simplified the method for the foam injection timing method so it's more robust - that's been the biggest thing - it's all that refitting to suit the conditions and to make the bucket more reliable and not leak.''
Foam injection can be controlled from the cockpit as the helicopter is being lined up on the flames or hot spot, after the bucket has been filled to the right weight for the machine and the conditions.
The Huey has a maximum lifting capacity of 1800kg, so the bucket will never be filled to more than 1800 litres when being lifted by that machine, but 1800 litres would offer greater penetration and hitting power of the water on fire, Mr Oakes said.
Water being dropped from a monsoon bucket with a smaller capacity could often disperse before hitting the target.
Central South Island Helicopters sent three machines to assist ground crew fighting the 21 fires, sparked by a steam train, stretching over 12km south of Oamaru last weekend.
