What is Fire Diving

What is Fire Diving? That is a good question.. Fire Diving is the "hottest" new
Extreme Sport around. Fire diving is when ateam of Scuba or Skin Divers compete with another team on how many divers they can have scooped up by either a helicopterbucket or the scoop of a water dropping airplane. The divers generally wear camouflaged NOMEX wet suits and wait just under the water for the approaching aircraft. As the plane is scooping or the helicopter is dipping we swim as fast as we can to get in the path of the aircraft in order to be scooped up.
The pilots don't like scooping up divers, so they try to avoid it. We divers have had to develop techniques to make sure they can't tell where we are on their downwind leg. Staying underwater doesn't work because you can't see where the water bombers or helicopters are. We have to stay on the surface so we can watch them coming in. When they turn onto final, we have to swim like crazy to get into the aircraft's path so we can be picked up.
Helicopter scoops are very tricky. Rotor downwash causes a vortex around the "Bambi" bucket which makes it very difficult to hold on during the drop. The pilots have an excellent view which demands very tactful bucket entry. This is also the reason why the Chopper league performs so well in the fixed wing water bomber competitions.
Many divers have painted their tanks and most of their equipment with a crazy pattern of green, gray, pink, blue, and brown hexagons. I know it sounds weird but many of Fire Divers believe this camouflage pattern is the best there is.