BLOOMFIELD, Conn — The battle against the devastating western wildfires, now raging in as many as six states – and parts of British Columbia continue to receive some support from the team at Kaman.
Kaman currently has 15 of their K-Max Helicopters in the air helping to extinguish flames and move equipment in hopes of controlling some of the fires.
Brad Smelser, who is the senior manager for K-Max customer service said from the company’s Bloomfield hangar, “right now 95 percent of our U.S. fleet is out there fighting fires.”
Doug Daley, the General Manager of Kaman Air Vehicles and a 39-year veteran of the company, added that the K-Max is, “a very rugged machine with very low maintenance. Its nickname is the “Aerial Truck” and that’s what it does.”
Wildfires burn in the West and the CT built K-Max joins the fight
The assembly line at Kaman is busy, with orders for more K-Max Helicopters that are currently in the process of being built. A K-Max Helicopter, which requires just one pilot, costs just over 7 million dollars.
Daley said, “we don’t hope that there are more fires out there but when there are, we are ready for them.”
Smelser added, “They (the K-Max) are out there to help people, to get more water for firefighters, and, this is what they do.”
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