OV 10A "Bronco"

Air Tacticle Aircraft

OV 10A "Bronco"

Specifications

Cruise Speed: 258 mph
Gallon Capacity: not applicable
Manufacturer: North American Rockwell. Columbus. Ohio.
Crew: Pilot and Air Tactical Group Supervisor

Original Owner

US Navy/Marines. 1968 1993. The OV 10A was used as a counter insurgency (military intelligence) aircraft and close air support to military ground forces.

Acquired by CAL FIRE

In 1993, CAL FIRE acquired 16 OV- lOAs from the Department of Defense. Fourteen of those have been converted and are available for use as air attack planes. The OV 10s replaced the original Cessna 0 2As that CAL FIRE had been using for air attack. The OV 10s are newer, larger, and faster, provide a larger held of vision for the crew and are more maneuverable than the older 0 2As.

Mission

CAL FIRE uses OV lOAs as aerial command and control of aircraft on wildland fires. The crew provides tactical coordination with the incident commander on the ground, providing information on the movement and spread of the hre. The OV- 10A crew then directs CAL FIRE’S airtanker and helicopter pilots where to make their retardant and water drops.

SBC Radio Channels

Command Channel Frequency

Tactical Channel Frequency

  • Command 1 (Dispatch) 153.770

  • Tactical 7 155.595

  • Command 2 153.905

  • Tactical 8 154.845

  • Command 3 153.980

  • Tactical 9 154. 650

  • Command 4 156.135

  • Tactical 10 155.640

  • Command 5 154.875

  • CDF/Tactical 11 151.445

  • Command 6 150.995

  • Tactical 12 153.830

  • Tactical 13 154.190

  • CDF/Tactical 14 151.190

  • Tactical 15 155.970

  • CALCORD 156.075

Incident Management Team (IMT)

Santa Barbara County is unique in that it has established a IMT-3 team. With cooperation from all of the fire agencies in the county along with the SB County Sheriff and California Highway Patrol. It is an “All-Risk” Type-3 Team and can respond and manage any incident such as a hazardous materials spill or vegetation fire

Santa Barbara County Operational Area

Type 3: State or Metropolitan Area Level

A standing team of trained personnel from different departments, organizations, agencies, and jurisdictions within a state or DHS Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) region, activated to support incident management at incidents that extend beyond one operational period. Type-3 IMTs will respond throughout the state or large portions of the state, depending upon State-specific laws, policies, and regulations.

Type 2: National and State Level

A federally or state-certified team; has less training, staffing and experience than Type-1 IMTs, and is typically used on smaller scale national or state incidents. There are thirty-five Type-2 IMTs currently in existence, and operate through interagency cooperation of federal, state and local land and emergency management agencies.

Type 1: National and State Level

A federally or state-certified team; is the most robust IMT with the most training and experience. Sixteen Type-1 IMTs are now in existence, and operate through interagency cooperation of federal, state and local land and emergency management agencies.

An incident management team consists of five subsystems as follows:

  • Incident command system (ICS) – an on-scene structure of management-level positions suitable for managing any incident;
  • Training – including needs identification, development, and delivery of training courses;
  • Qualifications and certification – the United States has national standards for qualifications and certification for ICS positions;
  • Publications management – the development, control, sourcing, and distribution of National Incident Management System (NIMS) publications provided by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG); and
  • Supporting technology and systems – technology and materials used to support an emergency response, such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), orthophoto mapping, National Fire Danger Rating System, remote automatic weather stations, automatic lightning detection systems, infrared technology, and communications.