Firefighting aircraft on display in southern California
KFMB-TV in San Diego has a video report about some of the firefighting aircraft that will be available in the San Diego area this summer.
They failed to show the Bell 205 helicopter with the 14-person crew that will be based there this year.
The large (non-CalFire) air tankers under contract to the U. S. Forest Service are truly national resources and will be moved around as needed, dictated by the weather and fuel conditions. There are none presently at Ramona.
Martin Mars air tanker
The Canadian Martin Mars is under contract with the U. S. Forest Service again this year and until Tuesday was expected to be based at Lake Elsinore southeast of Los Angeles as early as June 15. But on Tuesday the Elsinore City Council decided to ask the USFS for more money for the rights to land and moor on the lake. The draft agreement with the USFS that the council considered at their meeting this week called for a payment of $200 for each time the aircraft landed on the lake, but the council decided that if it was a slow fire season, they would not receive enough money. So, back to the negotiating table.
If the city and the USFS are able to reach an agreement, the plans are that the the Martin Mars will take off from Lake Elsinore, but it will reload by scooping from Diamond Valley Lake east of Elsinore where the ship can scoop up the 7,200 gallons needed to refill its tanks in one pass, as opposed to the two passes that would be required at the smaller Lake Elsinore.
The Martin Mars contract includes what the Canadians call a “bird dog” aircraft that is used much like a lead plane. In this case it will be a helicopter–a Sikorsky S-76, similar to the one in the photo below, outfitted with a bunch of electronics to monitor the fire and the effectiveness of the retardant that is dropped.
We are not sure which variation of the S-76 will be used, but some models have a cruising speed of 178 mph, compared to a 190 mph cruising speed and 138 mph drop speed for the Martin Mars, which is powered by four huge 18-cylinder radial engines, each cranking out 2,500 horsepower. I love the sound of radial engines over a fire.
Bob Abbey nominated to be Director of BLM
President Obama has nominated Bob Abbey to be the next Director of the Bureau of Land Management. Abbey retired in 2005 as the Navada State Director for the BLM.
Most recently, Abbey was a partner in a private consultant firm called Abbey, Stubbs, & Ford, LLC with offices in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada. He also continued his advocacy within the private sector as a member of the University of Nevada College of Agriculture Dean’s Advisory Committee and as a board member on several statewide and national non-profit organizations.
He has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Fire safe home construction in California
Dick sent along a link to an interesting article in The High Country News about how home construction practices are changing in California to provide more resistance to wildfires.
Judge refuses to block preemptive power shut-off plan
San Diego Gas and Electric, SDG&E, received approval from an administrative law judge to request approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to shut off the power to large sections of San Diego County during periods of high fire danger. Wildfire Today has covered this issue several times previously.
A group of water districts, school officials, consumer advocates, and cable and telephone companies oppose the plan and had asked the administrative law judge to dismiss the SDG&E application.
Fire in Canada near Marshall Lake
A fire in Canada at Marshall lake near Gold Bridge has burned about 14,800 acres since May 29. It is 100 kilometers west of Lillooet and is north of Whistler. Firefighters are protecting structures with sprinkler systems and the fire is 15 percent contained. The Metronews has more information.
FEMA fire station construction grants–opens June 11
On June 11 FEMA will begin accepting applications for their Assistance to Firefighters Fire Station Construction Grants. The program provides funds to build new or modify existing fire stations in order for departments to enhance their response capability and protect the community they serve from fire and fire-related hazards.
747 Supertanker demonstration
Evergreen will conduct a demonstration and tour of their 747 Supertanker in Sacramento, California on Thursday, June 11 at McClellan Jet Services, 3028 Peacekeeper Way. It will begin at 11 a.m., but to attend, an RSVP is required. Contact supertankerdemonstration@evergreenaviation.com or 503-472-9361 ext. 4434, or visit their web site.
The air tanker has been approved by the Interagency Air Tanker Board, but the company has not secured any contracts to deploy it. (Update: an anonymous commenter below says the 747 [Tanker 947] now has a Call When Needed contract with CalFire.)
The U.S. Forest Service arranged for NASA to test and evaluate both very large air tankers, the DC-10 and the 747. The NASA report is HERE, but basically they concluded that both ships were “suitable for the USFS fire fighting mission”.
A video is available of the 747 undergoing “grid tests”, in which an air tanker makes numerous drops at different coverage levels to evaluate the retardant drop system.
