Montana and federal officials have made a deal that will allow the state's five firefighting helicopters to respond to some blazes on federal lands, after they were barred from doing so last year as fires raging across the West led to equipment shortages.
The agreement allows the retrofitted Vietnam-era helicopters to be used when lives are at risk or when the governor declares a state of emergency, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation spokesman John Grassy said Thursday.
Additional details about the deal, which was finalized this week, will be released during Gov. Steve Bullock's fire briefing in Butte Friday.
The helicopters were barred last year from responding to fires in national forests and U.S. Bureau of Land Management land because federal standards require they use smaller buckets to scoop water. The issue sparked tension between state and federal officials with a shortage of resources available to fight blazes during an active fire season last year across the West.
The five modified Bell UH-1H helicopters have increased power that enables them to carry 324-gallon buckets. However, U.S. Forest Service policy, developed after helicopter crashes in the past, requires aircraft of that type to carry water-scooping buckets 100 gallons smaller.
The issue is specific to Montana's helicopters and not any other state's aircraft of equipment, Forest Service officials previously said.