Too few ‘fire bombers’ as Western states burn
Tanker demand far exceeds supply
DENVER — The captain lined up his 747 airtanker with the Holy Fire incinerating California’s Cleveland National Forest and prepared to steer the retrofitted freighter straight into the jaws of hell. Following a tiny spotter plane silhouetted in a cockpit window against the smoky inferno, the pilot descended toward the trees and released 19,000 gallons of magenta retardant.
Dubbed the “Spirit of John Muir,” the jumbo jet has attained Hollywood-like celebrity on social media and television this summer. Between July 7 and Aug. 9, it flew 41 sorties over 10 massive blazes scorching the Pacific Coast. Jittery residents pleaded for it to be sent to save their homes.
“We’ve had phone calls from individuals on our line in California desperate to know what is going on and asking us, ‘Why isn’t the plane flying?’ ” asked Roger Miller, a managing partner at Alterna Capital Partners, which counts Global SuperTanker Services among its aviation assets.
The “fire bomber” is among the scores of airtankers and helicopters attacking record-breaking wildfires in states across the West. Yet demand for such resources far exceeds supply. In July, as the Ferguson Fire threatened the shuttered Yosemite Valley, incident commanders requested air support. A call came back that nothing was available.
The number of federally contracted airtankers is down 70 percent since 2000, with just 13 now working through exclusive use agreements with the U.S. Forest Service. Helicopter support has also fallen, with the agency unable to fill more than half the requests it received last year.
And while states are beefing up their own aerial firefighting forces, they are also competing among themselves for the private aircraft available. “As demand outstrips supply, prices will go up, and those who can pay more or pay sooner will get the resource,” said Tony Kern, former national aviation officer for the Forest Service who now directs safety for World View Enterprises.
Beyond environmental concerns — chemicals in the retardant can harm plants and fish and foul waterways — there’s also the issue of how much air attacks help to extinguish flames.
Many fire managers agree that the tankers are most effective in an event’s initial stages, with helicopters doing their best work when a blaze is transitioning into a bigger conflagration. But they disagree about how well these fleets help to curb infernos like California’s Carr Fire, which created a “fire tornado” with speeds of up to 143 miles per hour that ripped off roofs.
Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology, a former federal wildland firefighter, is a critic. He says tankers are increasingly dropping retardant on steep, densely forested slopes in the heat of the afternoon, when it can drift and quickly be outpaced by the flames before ground crews arrive.
“It’s being dumped in times and places and conditions where it’s least effective,” Ingalsbee said. “It makes great film at 11 p.m. on the local news — but it’s just a big air show.”