Black Hawk to Firehawk

A Black Hawk helicopter is being retrofitted in a hangar at Centennial Airport to be turned into a Firehawk. The Black Hawk is being transformed to have unique firefighting capabilities. The company doing the retrofit is United Rotorcraft. The helicopter came from Poland by way of Texas before arriving at Centennial. The Colorado Legislature voted in favor of buying the aircraft for $24 million after 2020’s historic wildfires.

The retrofit will be done by the end of the year, and once operational, it will have the capability to vacuum up to 1,000 gallons of water in a minute and dump it within a few seconds. The helicopter platform allows it to deploy and attach fires differently from the large tanker aircraft that normally assist in firefighting efforts. The Firehawk also has the ability to transport over a dozen firefighters.

Firehawks have become very popular in recent years. CAL Fire is purchasing 12 and Los Angeles County has 5. United Rotorcraft adds a belly-mounted 1,000-gallon water tank and a retractable snorkel. To give the tank extra clearance from the ground, they add an extension to each of the aircraft’s two front wheels. Optional equipment can include a rescue hoist, cargo hook, specific radios and avionics changes, and a medical suite for the cabin.