{{Short description|Bucket used by helicopters in aerial firefighting}} [[File:Operações Aéreas, Maranhão (48382147942) (cropped).jpg|alt=A helicopter passing over a bush fire, with a bucket slung below it. Water is being dropped on the fire from the bucket.|thumb|A Bell 206 using a bucket during a training flight in Maranhão, Brazil]] {{use mdy dates |date=August 2020 }}
A '''helicopter bucket''' or '''helibucket''' is a specialized bucket suspended on a cable carried by a helicopter to deliver water for aerial firefighting. The design of the buckets allows the helicopter to hover over a water source—such as a lake, river, pond, or tank—and lower the bucket into the water to refill it. This allows the helicopter crew to operate the bucket in remote locations without the need to return to a permanent operating base, reducing the time between successive drops.
Each bucket has a release valve on the bottom which is controlled by the helicopter crew. When the helicopter is in position, the crew releases the water to extinguish or suppress the fire below. Each release of the water is referred to as a drop.
==Design== thumb|alt=A-Flex collapsible Monsoon Bucket|A-Flex collapsible monsoon bucket Buckets can be collapsible or rigid and vary in capacity from {{convert|72|to|2600|USgal|impgal L|0|abbr=off|sp=us}}. The size of each bucket is determined by the lifting capacity of the helicopter required to utilise each version. Some buckets can include fire retardant foam or the ability to pump water from the bucket into an internal tank. Smaller collapsible buckets can use water sources as shallow as {{convert|1|ft|cm|1}}. Worldwide, the term ''monsoon bucket'' is widely used and accepted as a generic term. In the United States, this type of bucket is officially referred to as a ''helibucket''.<ref>''[http://www.nwcg.gov/pms/pubs/glossary/pms205.pdf Glossary of Wildland Fire Terminology] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821230940/http://www.nwcg.gov/pms/pubs/glossary/pms205.pdf |date=August 21, 2008 }}'', National Wildfire Coordinating Group, pms205, October 2006</ref> The trademarked ''Bambi Bucket'' is also commonly used informally by firefighting crews to describe buckets developed by other manufacturers.
== Variants == [[File:Michigan National Guard firefighting bucket.jpg|thumb|right|A UH-60 Black Hawk lowering a Bambi Bucket into a lake in Michigan, United States]]A number of companies produce buckets, including A-Flex Technology,<ref name="AFlex">{{cite web|url=http://www.aflextechnology.com/monsoon-bucket.php |title=The A-Flex Firefighting Monsoon Bucket |access-date=2008-03-14 |last=A-Flex Technology |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511201845/http://www.aflextechnology.com/monsoon-bucket.php |archive-date=2008-05-11 }}</ref> SEI Industries,<ref>[https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/b-c-inventor-of-wildfire-fighting-bambi-bucket-inducted-to-hall-of-fame "B.C. inventor of wildfire-fighting Bambi Bucket inducted to hall of fame"]. ''Vancouver Sun'', Derrick Penner, March 16, 2017, </ref> IMSNZ Ltd.,<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.imsltd.co.nz|title=Collapsible Helicopter Fire Bucket|access-date=2009-04-28|last=IMSNZ ltd}}</ref> Absolute Fire Solutions,<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.absolutefire.ca/|title=FAST Bucket|access-date=2009-02-24|last=Absolute Fire Solutions}}</ref> Rural Fire Service,<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.monsoon-bucket.com/|title = HELiFIRE Monsoon Bucket|access-date = 2008-03-14|last = Rural Fire Service, New Zealand|archive-date = September 22, 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070922113839/http://www.monsoon-bucket.com/|url-status = dead}}</ref> and Aerial Fire Control Pty.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.afcwaterhog.com/|title=Water Hog Bucket|access-date=2009-01-24|last=Aerial Fire Control Pty Ltd}}</ref> Kawak Aviation Technologies,<ref>{{cite web|url = https://kawakaviation.com/cascade-helicopter-firefighting-bucket/|title=Cascade Bucket|access-date=2024-07-12|last=Kawak Aviation Technologies}}</ref>
==See also== * Helicopter rescue basket * Helitack — helicopter-delivered fire resources * Cargo hook (helicopter)
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Commonscat-inline|Helicopter buckets}}
{{Firefighting}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helicopter Bucket}} Category:Aerial firefighting helicopters Category:Wildfire suppression equipment Category:Aerial firefighting Category:Helicopter equipment