Why in News? Indian Air Force’s MI 17 V5 helicopter, deployed to extinguish Uttarakhand’s raging forest fires is using a “Bambi Bucket”, also known as a helicopter bucket (Helibucket), to collect water from Bhimtal lake (near Nainital) and pour it over the burning forests.

What is a Bambi Bucket? It is a specialized aerial firefighting tool being used since the 1980s. It is essentially a lightweight collapsible container that releases water from underneath a helicopter to targeted areas using a pilot-controlled valve. It can be quickly and easily filled from various sources, including lakes and swimming pools, allowing firefighters to swiftly refill it and return to the target area. It is available in a variety of sizes and models, with capacities ranging from 270 to 9,840 litres.

How was the Bambi Bucket Invented? It was invented by Don Arney in 1982 because the aerial firefighting water buckets in use at the time were inefficient and had a high failure rateas-1) they were made-up of solid fiberglass, plastic, or canvas with metal frames, 2)were too rigid to fit inside the aircraft” and 3) had to be trucked to fire sites or flown in on the hook of a helicopter thereby slowing the aircraft down. Also, the water dropped from these containers had less impact as it used to get dispersed into a spray. But Bambi Bucket can be stored within the helicopter, and it discharges a solid column of water resulting in a more accurate and effective water dump, less evaporation on the descent, and greater impact force. Today, Bambi Bucket is used in more than 115 countries around the world by more than 1,000 helicopter operators.