 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject.(February 2023) |
| Company type | Public NASDAQ:BAER |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founder | Tim Sheehy |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | [1] |
| Website | Official website |
Bridger Aerospace is an American aerospace company which provides aerial firefighting and wildfire management services. [2] At the Martin Fire in Nevada in 2018, it was the first private company to legally fly a drone over a wildfire.
The company was founded in 2014 by Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL who utilized airborne surveillance during the Global War on Terror and desired to apply that same capability to public safety tasks. [3] [4] Initially, Sheehy operated one plane to assist ranchers with tracking their cattle from the air. [2] Starting in the 2015 wildfire season, he shifted the company's focus to aerial firefighting. [5]
In 2018, Bridger was one of four companies awarded a contract with the United States Department of the Interior to use drones in emergency situations, including wildfires. [6] Under the contract, the company was granted permission to fly a drone over a wildfire. It became the first private company to legally do so when it used its drones to fly over wildfires during the Martin Fire in Nevada, mapping 435,000 acres of burned land in 11 flight runs. [2] [6]
By August 2019 the company had grown to a fleet of 20 aircraft and a staff of 100. [7]
In March 2020, Bridger Aerospace offered its fleet to healthcare workers for moving supplies and patients as a response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. [8] The company also manufactured face shields that it donated to frontline workers and used its fleet to deliver PPE to medical personnel in Montana. [9] [10] [11]
Bridger was the launch customer for the De Havilland CL-415EAF Firefighting Aircraft. [12]
In January 2023, Bridger went public via SPAC Merger at a valuation of $869mm. It currently trades under NASDAQ: BAER [13]
The company is headquartered in Belgrade, Montana, and provides its aerial fire fighting services to government agencies including the United States Forest Service in states across the U.S. [7] Its planes are used for fire suppression and it uses unmanned aerial vehicles to map and provide surveillance of fires. [2] The drones provide fire crews with information including infrared imagery of active fires, and help communicating with and tracking firefighters on the ground. [14]
As of 2021, the company's fleet includes over 20 aircraft, including:
| Aircraft | No. of aircraft | Variants | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| AC500 Shrike Commander [5] | 1 | S | Twin Engine Piston |
| AC690 Turbine Commander [5] | 5 | A, B, C | Twin Engine Turbine |
| AC681 Turbine Commander | 1 | A | Twin Engine Turbine |
| K100 Daher Kodiak [5] | 4 | S | Single Engine Turbine |
| Pilatus PC-12 [15] | 3 | PC-12 | Single Engine Turbine |
| de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter | 1 | Series 300 | Twin Engine Turbine with Floats |
| FVR90 | 2 | Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) | |
| Canadair CL-215 [5] | 10 | CL-415EAF [16] [17] | Amphibious Water Bomber |
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Smokejumpers are specially trained wildland firefighters who provide an initial attack response on remote wildland fires. They are inserted at the site of the fire by parachute. This allows firefighters to access remote fires in their early stages without needing to hike long distances carrying equipment and supplies. The benefits of smokejumping include the speed at which firefighters can reach a burn site, the broad range of fires a single crew can reach by aircraft, and the larger equipment payloads that can be delivered to a fire compared to pedestrian crews. Traditional terrestrial crews can use only what they can carry and often require hours and days to reach fire on foot.
Aerial firefighting, also known as waterbombing, is the use of aircraft and other aerial resources to combat wildfires. The types of aircraft used include fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Smokejumpers and rappellers are also classified as aerial firefighters, delivered to the fire by parachute from a variety of fixed-wing aircraft, or rappelling from helicopters. Chemicals used to fight fires may include water, water enhancers such as foams and gels, and specially formulated fire retardants such as Phos-Chek.
The Canadair CL-215 (Scooper) is the first model in a series of flying boat amphibious aircraft designed and built by Canadian aircraft manufacturer Canadair, and later produced by Bombardier. It is one of only a handful of large amphibious aircraft to have been produced in large numbers during the post-war era, and the first to be developed from the outset as a water bomber.
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Conair Group Inc. of Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, formerly known as Conair Aviation, is a company specializing in retrofitting firefighting aircraft, maintaining customer and company-owned aircraft and aerial firefighting. Conair currently employs over 250 staff and has a fleet of aircraft that are broken down into two categories; air attack, and airtankers. Conair specializes in fire management support by providing services and products to forest protection agencies around the world. In 1996 Conair became a Canadian Air Tractor dealer for the AT-802F air tanker. A former Conair Group division; Cascade Aerospace was acquired by the IMP Group of Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2012.
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Viking Air Ltd. is an operator and manufacturer of aircraft, as well as aircraft parts and systems, based at Victoria International Airport in North Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The company provides upgrades to the DHC-2 Beaver, spare parts for older de Havilland Canada aircraft, and components for Bell Helicopter Textron. The company is a subsidiary of De Havilland Canada.
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Air Spray (1967) Ltd. trading as Air Spray Ltd. of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and Air Spray USA Inc of Chico, California is a private company specializing in aerial wildfire suppression using air tanker or water bomber aircraft. Air Spray was owned and operated by Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame inductee, Donald T. Hamilton until his death in 2011. The company continued to be owned and operated by his daughter, Lynn Hamilton, of Foothills, Alberta.
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