Coos Forest Protective Association firefighters watch as a helicopter outfitted with a water bucket drops its payload during training near Coquille on Friday.-World Photos by Alex Powers

COQUILLE — Firefighting usually isn’t a spectator sport. But training sessions can be, especially when they involve helicopters.

Some of the Coos Forest Protective Association’s most recently certified firefighters got a first-hand look at what their partners in the sky are capable of.

Lifting off from its base on the ridge above Coquille shortly before noon Friday, the Class-3 helicopter sped west to a field about a half mile from state Highway 42 on North Bank Road. It made several passes while Chris Cline, a staff forester, gave instructions from the ground.

Using a handheld radio, the slim firefighter instructed the pilot where to load his 100-gallon bucket and how to approach the target.

Tom Fields, a spokesman for the association, said helicopters usually are called in to douse the head of a fire to slow it down for the fighters on the ground.

On Friday, some hot pink streamers were put down in the middle of a field to serve as the helicopter’s target.

After filling his bucket in a nearby ditch, the pilot maneuvered the blue and white helicopter to prepare for a southward approach on the target.

The first two runs came up short, as a cascade of white water fell just before the streamers.

“He has a tendency to fly by too fast,” said Mike Robison, the association’s district manager. “We need to tell him to slow down.”

0002000008BE00000591