U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Kyle Sanders, a crew chief with Golf Company, 1st Battalion, 189th Aviation, looks out over the Hagen Fire's burn scar in Umatilla County, Ore., as an HH-60M Black Hawk helicopter returns to Army Aviation Support Facility #2 in Pendleton, Aug. 10, 2026. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Maj. W. Chris Clyne, Oregon National Guard Public Affairs)
PENDLETON, Ore. — For Staff Sgt. Kyle Sanders, the sight of water falling from a helicopter onto a wildfire was the culmination of two decades of preparation.
On Aug. 10, Sanders leaned out of an open door aboard an Oregon Army National Guard HH-60M Black Hawk, watching a water bucket swinging about 100 feet beneath the aircraft. With the pilots unable to see the bucket from the cockpit, Sanders and a Cal Fire liaison in the cabin provided the guidance needed to position it over the flames.
When Sanders released the water, the Black Hawk was performing a mission far removed from its original purpose.
The aircraft was designed to evacuate wounded Soldiers from battlefields during the critical “golden hour.” On this day, however, its mission was to help protect homes and communities from the Hagen Fire in Umatilla County.
“I’ve been training for 20 years to do this,” said Sanders, a crew chief with Golf Company, 1st Battalion, 189th Aviation, who has served in the Oregon National Guard for 26 years. “Every fire season, I always end up on a search and rescue medevac standby crew, or the two or three seasons where I was actually on a bucket crew, we showed up at the tail end of the fire and just never got launched.”
When he finally saw the first load of water leave the bucket, the moment made an impression.
“I had a smile on my face. I was like, dude, this is freaking awesome,” Sanders said. “I texted my buddy, my mom, my dad and my wife.”
The crew faced one of its more challenging assignments when a Cal Fire liaison spotted a spot fire well beyond the Hagen Fire’s established perimeter.
The crew was working from a small, muddy dip site about six feet deep. Smoke and strong winds complicated operations as firefighters identified the spot fire, burning in unburned vegetation, as a priority.
The Black Hawk attempted a precision “spot drop,” bringing the aircraft close to a hover while Sanders worked to position the bucket over the flames.
“Our rotor wash was actually blowing the fire up, and the bucket was swinging, so I couldn’t get the water to go directly where I wanted it,” Sanders said. “But we got two or three drops that were pretty much dead-on the flaming tree, and we called it in again.”
For much of the day, the Black Hawk crews rotated through Langdon Lake with a heavy-lift helicopter and two CH-47 Chinooks. The aircraft followed a steady pattern over the lake, filling their buckets before returning to the fire.
“Langdon Lake is a huge, beautiful, deep lake, so it was really easy to pick up water fast and get back down there and drop it off,” Sanders said.
The operation was not without mechanical challenges. During one pass, the bucket tumbled underwater while being filled and emerged tangled. It continued to fly slightly crooked and did not reach full capacity for the remainder of the flight.
Sanders monitored the bucket throughout the mission and said the valve continued operating properly. After the helicopter landed, ground crews found no damage, determining the problem was a minor malfunction that another Guard crew also experienced.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Nathaniel Carter, the pilot in command, said the difficulty of aerial firefighting can vary significantly depending on the water source.
“You go into the fire and they tell you where they want you to go, and sometimes it’s more challenging than others,” Carter said. “A lot of it depends on the dip site. Dipping out of a lake is way easier than dipping out of a little pond.”
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Noelan Smith said the pilots rely heavily on the crew members in the back of the aircraft because of their limited visibility of the bucket.
“Communication made it a lot easier,” Smith said. “I’m unable to see anything based on how this aircraft’s laid out, so I have to trust the guys in the back to get it done.”
Helping coordinate between the military aircrews and firefighters on the ground was Joe Carstensen, a Cal Fire military helicopter manager who was working with the Oregon National Guard for the first time.
“My job is to be the subject matter expert for the firefighter side, helping bridge that gap of what the firefighters are saying on the ground and translating that to the military aviators,” Carstensen said.
Carstensen said the mission also provided an opportunity for Cal Fire and Oregon Guard personnel to exchange experience and knowledge.
As of Aug. 10, the Hagen Fire had burned approximately 51,061 acres and was 11% contained, according to the Oregon Department of Forestry.
Firefighters had lined and held spot fires that crossed Highway 204 near Spout Springs. Drone-mounted infrared cameras helped fire managers locate hot spots and direct helicopter water drops more precisely, reducing the need for broader retardant applications in challenging terrain and fuels.
Night crews continued holding gains and conducting mop-up operations, while daytime crews worked on defensive firing in targeted areas to create additional buffers between the fire and threatened structures, particularly on the southern portions of the fire. Crews also continued constructing hand line around a spot fire in steep terrain south of Bingham.
High temperatures, low humidity and strong winds have created difficult conditions across the region, increasing fire behavior and placing additional demands on aviation resources.
Gina Miner, Oregon Department of Forestry Eastern Oregon Area assistant area director, said the National Guard aircraft have provided important support to firefighters on the ground.
“The HH-60 pilots and crews’ work on the Hagen Fire has helped ground crews gain access in rough terrain and slow the spread of increased fire behavior,” Miner said. “The aerial water bucket support is an integral part of the complete firefighting system, working together with ground resources, other air resources and heavy equipment.”
Miner said the Guard’s activation has helped reduce pressure on other firefighting resources.
“We are very thankful for their hard work,” she said.
As of Aug. 13, approximately 140 Oregon National Guard personnel were activated to support wildfire operations statewide. Guard aviation crews were operating two CH-47 Chinooks and two HH-60M Black Hawks on water-bucket missions, along with another HH-60M supporting search-and-rescue operations.
Oregon National Guard aircrews had completed 632 water-bucket drops during the 2026 fire season, delivering approximately 676,290 gallons of water to wildfires across the state.
For Sanders, finally seeing one of those drops firsthand made years of preparation worthwhile.
“I had a smile on my face,” he said.
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