It was a true test of water buckets used for fighting forest fires Friday evening when Ben Drury flew over Riverdale.

'We happened to be very lucky that night,' Whitehorse fire chief Clive Sparks said in an interview this morning.

The local fire department got the call about two old abandoned burning vehicles approximately one kilometre into the Grey Mountain Road area at 9:12 p.m. Friday. The fire had begun spreading into the bush around the area.

Sparks was also in touch with territorial fire management officials, who called in crews to assist. At the same time, Drury had been flying over the area following his work testing the water buckets over Schwatka Lake.

'It was basically being in the right place at the right time,' Drury said this morning.

After testing the buckets, he had flown around the back side of town to avoid an Air North flight that was also on its way in. He noticed smoke coming from the Grey Mountain area and asked if the municipal firefighters wanted some help with a water drop.

Through communication with a dispatcher, he learned they could use the assistance. Using water from a nearby lake, Drury said he dumped four or five buckets or approximately 2,250 litres over the area.

'It was a really quick turnaround,' he said of the lake in the area.

Sparks said Drury's work helped keep the fire from spreading at a time when they had to wait to get the department's water tanker to the scene.

While the department's pickup carrying water to the blaze was on hand, Sparks said volunteer firefighters had to be called in to bring the tanker to the scene. The roads around Grey Mountain are also more difficult to maneuver the tanker through, he said of the time needed to bring the tanker to the scene.

Though the tanker would have been there in time to extinguish the blaze, he noted: 'The helicopter just made it so much easier.'

Trans North staff are also praising Drury's action.

'We're very proud of him,' operations manager Rob Fletcher said this morning.

After Drury assisted with the fire, Whitehorse firefighters finished extinguishing the blaze. The department was back in service by 11 p.m.

In addition to Drury, seven Whitehorse firefighters, four firefighters from Wildland Fire Management and an RCMP officer were on the scene, Sparks said.