BSFR gives closer look at aviation unit’s new aircraft used to battle flames, save lives
After completing its first successful mission in the air, Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue is giving a closer look at their new aircraft that will help firefighters respond to fires more effectively.
BSFR’s newly commissioned helicopter, a Eurocopter EC145 aircraft, took to the skies when a recreational tour boat operator reported a brush fire in the western section of the Everglades, around noon on Tuesday.
“It started to spread with the wind gusting from 20 to 25 miles per hour that day. It was just really – the conditions were not optimal for any sort of brush fire,” said BSFR Lieutenant Louis Solomon.
With harsh conditions that could help the flames spread quickly, crews jumped into action, deploying both their waterborne airboat teams and its aviation unit.
“They said we’re gonna go with an aerial firefighting operation, that’ll be the best way to mitigate it and prevent it from going on to property or life,” said Solomon.
It didn’t take long for firefighters to find the rapidly spreading brush fire, which they said managed to grow to the size of a football field.
Utilizing the chopper’s Bambi Bucket system, a tool capable of releasing nearly 200 gallons of water, first responders dropped thousands of gallons from a nearby canal over the course of two hours battling the intense flames.
“We have a crew member that calls the actual, where it needs to go, where the load of water needs to go,” said Solomon.
After the intense fight, crews managed to extinguish the flames, preventing further damage to the environment.
BSFR originally obtained two of these new aircrafts in late 2024 and over the summer of 2025 to support their aerial fleet.
After crews wrapped up specialized training for the aircraft in September, this operation marked the unit’s first live deployment.
The deployment comes after a Broward Sheriff’s Office helicopter crashed into a Pompano Beach apartment complex in 2023. That crash killed two people, including BSFR Captain Terryson Jackson.
For Solomon, this successful mission with a new chopper helps honor Jackson’s memory and his mission to save lives.
“The show has to go on and he would want it to go on, and I think that he would be very proud of what we have done in the short amount of time since that incident,” said Solomon.
Solomon added that in his 22 years of service, he’s never been a part of something this large. He said he’s proud to be involved.
“There’s someone injured in the Everglades, somewhere that’s inaccessible by any other vehicle. We can get there, we can hoist them out,” said Solomon. “Your chances of survivability in Broward County, I promise you, increased significantly.”
The aviation unit goes beyond firefighting missions.
It recently earned distinction as one of the first in Florida to deliver and administer whole blood transfusions directly to trauma and medical patients in-flight, extending life-saving capabilities to the skies above Broward.
