VIDEO: Helicopters Filling Buckets of Water to Fight Fire in Bridger Foothills

Now more than ever, the heroic efforts of firefighters, smokejumpers, pilots, and everyone else who helps to fight forest fires are important, vital and much, much appreciated services.  We thank them so much for their service, and for helping protect the lives and property of millions of us across the nation.

So any closer look we get of the way they work is as fascinating as it is vital to understand.  If wildfires are going to continue to be a part of the reality of living in the West, then it falls to us as citizens to learn a bit about how it is done. 

This dramatic video manages to catch a series of helicopters filling their buckets from a small pond before flying off to fight the fire once more.  We're not sure what helicopters those are, leave a comment below!

Depending on the size of the bucket, as well as whether it is collapsible or not, helicopter-towed fire buckets can hold anywhere between 72 and 2600 gallons of water.  

It goes to show that wildfire management is, and always will be, a combination of high-tech and low, of sweat and ingenuity. 

Watch the full video below, and if you know a firefighter, please: thank them, from us.