RUSKIN, Fla. – Sunday afternoon in Ruskin nearly took a turn for the worse when a brush fire flared up, threatening to sweep into local neighborhoods.
The blaze, which broke out on February 1, could have been a disaster for nearby homeowners if not for a seamless tag-team effort between local emergency crews. While Hillsborough County Fire Rescue tackled the flames from the dirt, they had some serious backup watching their six from above.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) Aviation Unit didn’t waste a second getting birds in the air.
READ: Florida Firefighters Get A Multi-Million Dollar Shield Against The Flames
Their pilots deployed a “Bambi Bucket”—a specialized giant sling used to scoop and dump massive amounts of water—to douse the areas ground trucks couldn’t easily reach. By the time the smoke began to clear, the aviation team had dropped over 2,000 gallons of water on the hotspot.
This aerial bombardment was the turning point, cooling the perimeter enough to keep the fire from jumping toward residential property lines.
Thanks to that quick coordination, the fire was knocked down before it could do any real damage, proving once again that when it comes to Florida brush fires, speed is everything.
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