4
Exactly thirty minutes after official local sunrise, to the second, the helos of Mount Hood Aviation roared aloft as a unit into the gray sky. Emily flew the other Firehawk to Jeannie’s right. The pair of 212s and the MD 500 fell behind quickly. They were less than halfway to the front line when Jeannie spotted Henderson’s plane climbing into the morning sky.
“Good morning, sports fans,” he called over the command frequency. “We only lost a dozen homes overnight because the local engines kicked serious butt. Any bets on the insurance companies screaming about their incompetency?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “No? Now it’s time to punch this sucker out. Firehawks Oh-One and Oh-Two, I want you working the flank two miles east of where you left off last night.” He read off coordinates th
