Dauntless Air expands fleet of Fire Bosses

In pursuit of its mission to protect people, land and property from the devastation of wildfires, Dauntless will put its fleet to work on exclusive use and call-when-needed contracts with the Bureau of Land Management (which shares resources with the US Forest Service), Bureau of Indian Affairs and state fire agencies in Minnesota, Idaho, Washington, Alaska, Colorado and Oregon.

“A growing number of fire agencies are turning to Fire Boss-driven Rapid Initial Attack to contain wildfires faster and avoid the devastation, fossil fuel emissions, health impacts and costs associated with large, complex fires,” said Brett L’Esperance, CEO, Dauntless Air. “We are responding to this increasing demand by expanding our Fire Boss fleet to give fire agencies more access to critical water-scooping aircraft that can work alongside helicopters in the fight against wildfires.”

Coordinating with ground resources

Central to the Rapid Initial Attack model are amphibious resources – Fire Bosses and firefighting helicopters – that can work in close, coordinated fashion with ground resources, operate out of large or small air bases and scoop water directly from natural sources nearby a fire.

In Rapid Initial Attack, these pre-positioned aircraft can arrive on the scene within an hour of dispatch and bombard a fire with water by traveling back and forth between it and a nearby water source. Fire Bosses can scoop up to 800 gallons in approximately 20 seconds. Loads of water carried by Dauntless Fire Bosses can be enhanced using an in-flight gel mixing system, which helps to improve the water’s fire-suppressive characteristics.

Dauntless Fire Bosses will talk more about the custom technology at the upcoming AirMed&Rescue roundtable, New Technology and Aircraft Adaptations in Aerial Firefighting. The session will take place on 20 July 2021 and feature leaders from Dauntless Air, Erickson and Intterra.