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A key component of Billings’ firefighting work is the Bambi Bucket, which the operator has had modified with faster pumps. Skip Robinson Photo

Making a Splash: Bambi Bucket celebrates 40 years

By Jon Duke | December 21, 2022

Estimated reading time 7 minutes, 59 seconds.

The Bambi Bucket needs no introduction. Since the launch of the first Bambi Bucket in 1982, it has become ubiquitous in aerial firefighting operations around the world.

A key component of Billings’ firefighting work is the Bambi Bucket, which the operator has had modified with faster pumps. Skip Robinson Photo
Thousands of Bambi Buckets of various sizes are in use around the world. Skip Robinson Photo

In the opinion of Mark Tayler — general manager at Bambi Bucket manufacturer SEI Industries — the product’s enduring popularity is thanks to the fact it was born from innovation, and this hasn’t stopped since the very first unit was produced.

“It’s been a process of continuous evolution,” he told Vertical.

To the casual observer, the giant flexible bucket made from SEI’s iconic orange material might look like any other water bucket, but Tayler is keen to highlight just how far the product has come since its inception.

He explained that while the means already existed to drop water from a tank slung under a helicopter, the equipment came with serious limitations.

“The tanks were bulky and rigid, and either had to be moved to the site of the fire by road, or flown there under the helicopter, and they weren’t reliable,” he said. “What was needed was a way that the tank could be transported to the site inside the helicopter, and then used to drop water reliably.”

Step forward Don Arney, a Canadian inventor who together with Mark McCooey founded a company in 1978 that was literally named after its principles: science, engineering and innovation. All were to be brought to bear to solve the problem of how to improve helicopter-borne firefighting equipment. While testing underwater airbags by suspending them filled with water, he wondered if something similar might be useful as a fire-fighting bucket.

SEI brought its first Bambi Bucket to market in 1982 after Arney had built a prototype in his garage and thoroughly tested it — there’s even an archive photo of him testing the damage resistance of the original design by attacking a filled and suspended bucket with a woodcutting axe. Suffice it to say the bucket survived, simply yielding to the force in the same way that it does in use, should it contact tree stumps, rocks or other sharp objects that would pose a serious hazard to traditional rigid buckets.

While still just as rigorous, the company’s testing methods are now more sophisticated, as are its research and development efforts.

Tayler explained one of the innovations that has kept the Bambi Bucket at the cutting edge. Pilots can use a hand controller to open and close a valve in the bottom of a Bambi MAX, allowing them to drop water in multiple locations with the same load with the click of a button. It also allows pilots to dump a little water out after a fill, in order to take precisely the maximum load for their aircraft’s weight limit at that moment. As they burn off fuel, they can take more water, increasing their flexibility.

The utility of such a system might seem obvious with hindsight, but even this simple-looking feature is packed with innovations.

A black box attached to the valve at the bottom of the Bambi MAX has a green light that flashes to indicate the system is working. A red light allows crews to see, at a glance, if the system has identified a fault. Attached to the box, which would clearly be under water in a full bucket, is the motor for the valve.

Tayler explained some of the other measure that help keep the system reliable.

“The wires are all filled with a gel that reacts with water and turns into a solid plug,” he said.

That plug then prevents capillary action drawing water up the wiring insulation and into the sensitive electronics, making a minor snag much less likely to become an expensive major repair.

When it comes to options, there are a bewildering array from which potential customers can choose. The Bambi Buckets range in size from 72 to 9,800 US gallons (2,70 to 9,800 liters), which at the top end is just under ten tons of water — that’s as much as some airport fire trucks. Then there are options to add pumps that allow the bucket to be filled without submerging it, fire suppressing foam injection systems, and even flotation devices in case the bucket needs to be jettisoned in the water.

And the drive to keep innovating continues.

“The material that the buckets are made from suits other applications, so we looked at ways it could be used for fuel storage,” said Tayler. The company now produces pillow tanks for remote fuel storage, and flexible tanks that are certified for fuel carriage inside aircraft. And aligning with the firefighting mission, SEI produces “Dragon Eggs” — table-tennis ball-sized spheres that can auto-ignite to start a controlled burn to help prevent wildfires from starting in the first place.

“We are always looking at ways to improve our products,” said Tayler. “Operators always want to reduce weight, so that is always a focus for us, both in design and also in materials.”

Since its entry into production 40 years ago, the Bambi Bucket has been used in over 100 countries and slung under a huge variety of aircraft, from light singles to the massive Chinook. It’s impossible to estimate how many lives the product might have saved, how much loss of property it has averted, and how many acres of forest it has been responsible for preserving. But no matter its success, there’s no doubt that SEI Industries will continue to strive to improve it, and ensure that however many fires the Bambi Bucket has in its past, it has far more in its future.

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