This article was first published at Fire Aviation.
Two current or former firefighters were quoted in the Billings Gazette as asserting that the downgrading of the West Yellowstone Interagency Fire Center air tanker base in Montana to a Call When Needed base may have affected the amount of retardant applied on a recent fire near Bozeman, Montana.
Bridger Foothills Fire
The Bridger Foothills Fire that started September 4, 2020 northeast of Bozeman burned 8,224 acres and destroyed 28 homes. Three firefighters were forced to deploy and take refuge in their fire shelters September 5 when their safety became compromised by the spread of the fire. After the danger passed they moved to a safety zone and were later treated at Bozeman Health for “smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion” and then released.
West Yellowstone air tanker base
From the Billings Gazette, quoting a former smokejumper who had been based at West Yellowstone:
“The Bridger fire could have been staffed with more planes and twice the retardant dropped had West Yellowstone been used with the other bases,” said Tommy Roche, a retired wildland firefighter, in an email.
In addition to the former air tanker base at West Yellowstone, Montana, there are three other bases in that part of the country. Listed below are all four with their distances from the Bridger Foothills Fire.
- West Yellowstone, 73 miles
- Helena, 76 miles
- Billings, 118 miles
- Pocatello, 142 miles
Forest Service will not release the Conklin de Decker and Associates air tanker study
From the Billings Gazette:
A Freedom of Information Act request, filed more than a year ago by West Yellowstone airtanker base manager Billy Bennett, for the Forest Service’s airtanker study has not been fulfilled. “In my opinion, I do not believe the study exists!” Bennett wrote in an email. “No one admits to ever having seen it.”
According to documents provided to Fire Aviation by the Custer National Forest in Montana, in 2019 the Forest Service commissioned an independent analysis of next generation air tankers performance by Conklin de Decker and Associates (CdD).
We asked for a copy of the study today and were told by Forest Service Fire Communications Specialist Stanton Florea that it “…contains proprietary information. You would need to file a FOIA [Freedom of Information Act Request] with our national office.”
Forest Service did not release the RAND air tanker study
We were told the same thing after requesting and then filing a FOIA to obtain a copy of the $840,092 RAND air tanker study completed in 2012. The Forest Service refused to honor the FOIA, saying “…the report is proprietary and confidential RAND business information and must be withheld in entirety under FOIA Exemption 4.” Their refusal letter went on to say: “The data, analysis, and conclusion in this report are not accurate or complete” and that the USFS wanted “to protect against public confusion that might result from premature disclosure.”
RAND finally released it in 2012. Both air tanker studies were prepared at taxpayer expense.
The RAND study recommended that the U.S. Forest Service upgrade its airborne firefighting fleet to include more scooper air tankers. “Because scoopers cost less and can make multiple water drops per hour when water sources are nearby, we found that the most cost-effective firefighting fleet for the Forest Service will have more scoopers than air tankers for the prevention of large fires,” said Edward G. Keating, lead author of the study and a senior economist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. “However, air tankers are important in an ancillary role in initial attack for the minority of wildfires where water sources are not nearby, and possibly for fighting large fires as well.”
Performance of the BAe-146 at West Yellowstone
In a letter signed April 4, 2019 by Shawna Legarza, who at the time was the Director of Fire and Aviation for the Forest Service, she wrote, “Based on CdD information, the BAe-146 [air tanker] will not be able to operate from West Yellowstone unless temperatures are below 69°F”, and included the table below. She also wrote, “Retardant will not be downloaded”, meaning the BAe-146 must always carry 3,000 gallons.
The performance of the BAe-146 at West Yellowstone is due to the elevation at the base, 6,640 feet above sea level. On a warm day the thin air results in a density altitude that makes it difficult for the aircraft to take off with a full load of retardant on the 8,400-foot runway.
The table indicates that there would be no restrictions for the C-130, C-130Q, RJ 85, and the MD-87 air tankers, but the BAe-146 tankers operated by Neptune Aviation would not be able to carry a full 3,000-gallon load of retardant under certain conditions. The BAe-146 and the RJ 85 are very similar, but the RJ 85s operated by Aero Flite have more efficient engines than the BAe-146.
Closing West Yellowstone air tanker base
The letter from Director Legarza included this:
Based on safety and efficiencies, Region 1 should consider whether any future investment into the West Yellowstone Airtanker Base is warranted. The airtanker bases in Billings and Helena, Montana, and Pocatello, Idaho are within 30 minutes flight time for a next generation airtanker and can maintain the airtanker response and capability needed for that portion of your geographic area. Additionally, a temporary airtanker base could be setup at the Bozeman, Montana airport if the fire situation in that portion of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming warranted a quicker response.
Forest Service begins to appreciate scooping air tankers
Another reason cited by the Forest Service for downgrading the West Yellowstone tanker base was the “increased use of scooper aircraft”, such as the CL-415 which can skim across a lake while scooping up to 1,600 gallons of water without having to return to an airport to reload with water or retardant. Historically the agency has been extremely reluctant to use scooping air tankers but four are currently under contract. For years they completely disregarded the RAND report’s recommendations about the efficiency of scoopers.
“The timing for the new scooper contract is this winter for the 2021 season and it is expected that Bridger Aerospace (based in Bozeman, MT) will have four turbine CL-215’s ready to bid which will add to the four CL-415’s on the current contract for a total of 8 nationally,” said Marna Daley, a Public Affairs Officer for the Custer National Forest in an email. “Regionally, Canadian scoopers are available and used through the agreement the Montana DNRC has with Canada.”
Bridger Aerospace is in the process of acquiring six old piston engine CL-215s that have been overhauled and upgraded with new turbine engines; they are designated as CL-415EAFs.
West Yellowstone becomes a CWN base, dependent on portable retardant infrastructure
The West Yellowstone air tanker base is now classified by the Forest Service as a Call When Needed base. In the fall of 2019 the powder retardant was removed and the retardant mixing equipment was decommissioned according to documents supplied by the Forest Service. The base can now only be used to reload air tankers if a transportable retardant mixing plant is ordered and set up at the airport.
Forest Service’s evaluation of the use of air tankers at the Bridger Foothills Fire
In an email to Fire Aviation, Ms. Daley explained the agency’s opinion about the use of air tankers and the availability of the West Yellowstone tanker base during the Bridger Foothills Fire:
In terms of LATS (Large Air Tankers) and VLATs (Very Large Air Tankers) the Bridger Foothills Fire initial attack (day 1) and extended attack response (day 2 and day 3) was the most effective air resource response on the Custer Gallatin in 20 plus years. There wasn’t a moment where suppression efforts were lacking a retardant response. The ability of the Helena and Billings tanker bases to reload was unprecedented and fire managers were able to get full retardant loads on every tanker drop. The transition of the West Yellowstone Tanker base to a call when needed base did not affect the outcome of the Bridger Foothills fire. The base in West Yellowstone could have been opened under the Forest’s Call When Needed plan but that was not requested or needed because Helena and Billings bases were far more efficient.
I beg to differ with Ms Daley’s statement that the Bridger Foothills fire was never lacking from a retardant response.. she does not state how many drops from Seats and Lats (there never were any VLat drops) were put down on the 1st days IA and early on Day 2 when they would’ve mattered most. I’m sure she is referencing drops that occurred after the blowup at 1300 on Day 2 and into day 3 .. I counted 4 maybe 5 combined seat and Lat drops from approx 1800 until pumpkin during Friday’s IA … additionally there were 4 drops on the north and west flanks of the fire between 1100-1145 during the morning of Day 2. inexplicably the tankers were released around 1145 on the 5th without boxing in the east side of the fire… rendering the previous drops useless given the W/SW winds predicted for that day… yes there were many “aviation resources” during IA and the 2nd day.. but they were rotor not fixed. The Bridger Fire would have greatly benefitted from much more retardant given it’s relatively small size and minimal fire behavior during IA and early on day 2…. you would think with the multiple high dollar values at risk in the canyon and the proximity to Bozeman itself… they would’ve been flying mud from daylight when the fire was still less than 100 acres and catchable by going direct. It may well have been “the most effective air resource response in Custer-Gallatin in the past 20 years” but not when it was most useful.. which we all know is during IA. As of now it’s the 2nd most destructive in Montana history in terms of structures lost. I wonder if that would be the case if more retardant would have been used earlier. Note… This has nothing to do with the W. Yellowstone tanker base being open or closed… there is a newly upgraded tanker baseb in Helena that is the same flight time from West.
Something to consider; air tanker bases are an Initial Attack resource as well as providing support for large fires. If Helena, Billings, or Pocatello tanker bases are not usable due to an airport closure (i.e., aircraft accident, weather) or an equipment failure at a tanker base, would Yellowstone tanker base be needed? If so, would it be activated in time to provide adequate services for initial attack, and/or provide continuous support for large fires?
I think the answer is in the article…Bridger Aero’s presence in the area, their significant investment in the upgraded 415s and their deep ties to the political leadership in Montana and D.C. helped pave the way for those bases to be downgraded. If the area is that well peppered with scoopable water, than it makes sense…