Alaska – Page 2 – Wildfire Today

Q400 air tanker spotted dropping on a fire at Anchorage, Alaska

Conair expects to replace their L-188’s and CV-580’s with Q-400s

Firefighters stop the Elmore Fire in Anchorage, Alaska

Q400 air tanker drops Elmore Fire Anchorage, Alaska — A Q400 air tanker, Tanker 540, drops on the Elmore Fire near Anchorage, Alaska June 23, 2022. Mike McMillan/ AK DOF.

Firefighters in Alaska were able to stop the spread of the Elmore Fire on the east side of Anchorage Thursday at 13 acres before it spread into structures. It was reported at 5 p.m. in the Campbell Track area near the intersection of Dowling and Elmore Roads.

Alaska Dept. of Forestry firefighters on the Elmore Fire, Anchorage, AK June 23, 2022. Mike McMillan-Alaska DOF.

Personnel responded from the Pioneer Interagency Hotshot Crew, Palmer forestry, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Anchorage Fire Department, and Alaska Division of Forestry (DOF). A group of Canadian firefighters staged in the area with the DOF through the use of the Northwest Compact were also on scene.

The firefighters were assisted by one DOF helicopter and two fixed wing air tankers operated by Conair, a Q400 and a Convair 580. The Q400, Tanker 540, is seen above.

The DOF has a contract with Conair to supply two Convair 580 air tankers, but the company has the option to substitute one of their Q400 tankers for a 580 at the same price. One of the tankers is usually based at Palmer and the other at Fairbanks.

In 2021 Conair purchased 11 Q400 aircraft from Flybe Airlines. The first one was delivered at Conair facilities in Abbotsford, British Columbia, February 21, 2021. After being converted to air tankers, called A400ATs (Air Tanker), they will eventually replace the L-188’s and CV-580’s currently operated by Conair. Showcasing a Q400 in Alaska can increase the familiarity of the tanker among Conair’s potential clients.

The repurposed Q400s are capable of holding up to 2,640 gallons of retardant. The CV-580s were produced between 1947 and 1954 and can carry up to 2,100 gallons. The Q400 cruises about 50 mph faster than a CV-580.

Before purchasing the 11 Q400’s from Flybe, Conair had two A400ATs operational within their fleet that were used in 2021 for the first time in the North American fire season, including Alaska. They also had one under contract in Australia during the 2020-2021 bushfire season.

In 2017 the Conair Group secured a deal to sell six Q400MR (Multi-Role) air tankers to France’s Securite Civile (Department of Civil Defense and Emergency Preparedness). These were new aircraft that Conair purchased from Bombardier which can be reconfigured in a few hours to carry passengers, hence the Multi-Role designation. The new aircraft are replacing France’s old S-2 air tankers.

Alaska Conair CV-580 Elmore Fire Q400 T-540

Wildfire in Southwest Alaska burns more than 10,000 acres

Less winter snow than usual, and dry, windy weather contributed to the growth

Alaska Kwethluk Fire

Researchers study conditions that can lead to overwintering wildfires

Sometimes called “zombie fires”

Alaska overwinter research zombie fire

Chief Ranger/Pilot for Alaska’s Northern National Parklands Receives National Aviation Safety Award

Chief Ranger/Pilot Scott Sample

Alaska Top Cub

Alaska fire crews mobilized to the lower 48

Alaska fire crews mobilized to lower 48 firefighters — Fire crews line up to board a National Interagency Coordination Center aircraft at the BLM Alaska Fire Service on Fort Wainwright Friday, July 24, 2020. Photo by Tim Mowry, Alaska Division of Forestry.

Three Alaska wildland firefighting crews traveled to the Lower 48 states on Friday to assist with wildfire suppression efforts in the western United States.

The three crews – the BLM Alaska Fire Service Midnight Sun Hotshots, Chena Hotshots, and the Alaska Division of Forestry White Mountain Type 2 Initial Attack Crew – boarded an airliner at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks Friday morning. The aircraft came up to Alaska from the National Interagency Coordination Center in Boise, Idaho Thursday to transport the crews to Boise, where they will be quickly assigned to one of a multitude of wildfires burning in the western U.S.

“It’s always sad leaving Alaska but it will be good to get down there,” Iris Sager, crew superintendent for the Chena hotshot crew, said.

Alaska’s fire season was slowed by abundant and widespread rainfall the past five weeks that has dampened wildfire danger across the state. Because of this, Alaska’s wildland fire agencies have made many resources available to assist with the national firefighting effort while keeping adequate firefighters and aircraft in Alaska to handle any fire activity here.

The mobilization of firefighting resources to the Lower 48 is an annual tradition, similar to Alaska importing firefighters and aircraft from the Lower 48 to assist with wildfires here. Firefighters from Alaska travel to the Lower 48 almost every year to help other agencies battle wildfires after the Alaska fire season winds down, usually in mid- to late-July.

The three crews that departed Alaska on Friday totaled 62 firefighters and will add to the 60 other Alaska firefighting personnel that are already working in the Lower 48. One other crew – the Division of Forestry’s Pioneer Peak Hotshots – flew south last week and is working on the Cedar Fire in Nevada.

In addition, 13 Alaska Smokejumpers are in the Lower 48 working, as well as multiple other personnel filling positions such as dispatchers, heavy equipment managers, engine bosses and division supervisors.

Three more Division of Forestry crews – the Gannett Glacier, Tanana Chiefs, and Yukon Type 2 initial attack crews – are scheduled to fly to the Lower 48 early next week.

Given the fact that Alaska’s wildland fire season has been very slow this season and crews have been relegated to working on fuels reduction projects and other project work the past several weeks, firefighters welcomed the opportunity to head south to work on actual fires.

“We’ve spent less than 20 days on fires this summer,” White Mountain crew superintendent Owen Smith said as he waited to board Friday’s flight. “Everybody is ready for an assignment.”

As of Friday, a total of 309 fires had burned an estimated 178,025 acres in Alaska this summer, which is well below the approximately 650,000 acres that burns in a typical fire season.

Barring any major drying event in Alaska over the next month or two, crews will likely remain in the Lower 48 until fire season in the western U.S. dies down, which isn’t typically until September or October.

Firefighters wore facemasks as they lined up to board the plane on Friday at Fort Wainwright. BLM Alaska Fire Service workers, also wearing facemasks, handed each firefighter a bagged lunch as they boarded the flight to Boise.

While the increase in COVID-19 cases in Alaska and across the U.S. is a concern, it’s something the crews and other Alaska firefighting personnel have been dealing with since the season started in April. Agencies and crews have COVID protocols in place to help prevent the spread of the virus and each crew was traveling with at least three days of personal protective equipment such as facemasks and hand sanitizer.

“I think it would be harder if any of us had families and didn’t live by ourselves,” Smith said in reference to mobilizing to the Lower 48 during the pandemic. “It definitely makes it interesting.”

Returning personnel will follow Alaska state and local health mandates addressing testing and quarantining upon return from their Lower 48 assignments. In some cases, personnel will spend days off in the Lower 48 instead of returning to Alaska in between fire assignments.

From the BLM Alaska Fire Service

Alaska Idaho

Single engine air tanker damaged while scooping in Alaska

A single engine air tanker (SEAT) was damaged as it scooped water while working on a fire north of Fairbanks, Alaska July 14, 2020. Thankfully the pilot was not seriously injured.

The aircraft is an Air Tractor 802A Fire Boss, N80166, operated by Dauntless Air.

I reached out to the company’s CEO, Brett L’Esperance to get more information:

After almost three hours fighting fire from the same scoop site, one of our Fire Bosses “caught an edge” at the beginning of a scoop and got pulled hard right. Pilot tried correcting and almost pulled it off, but did end up running up on the bank of the scoop site and got stuck in the mud.

Airframe is fine, right wing was dinged by a tree on the edge of the lake and we’re assessing damage to the floats.

Pilot was not even bruised, but did scratch his thumb climbing out if the aircraft.

Below is the press release from the BLM Alaska Fire Service:

“(Fairbanks, Alaska) – No injuries were reported after an aircraft incident during suppression efforts on a wildfire about 120 air miles north of Fairbanks Tuesday afternoon. A BLM Alaska Fire Service dispatch center was notified at 3:56 p.m. of a incident involving a AT-802A Air Tractor Fire Boss working on the 15-acre Birch Creek Fire about 17 miles northwest of Circle. The Single Engine Air Tanker was one of six aircraft – four Fire Boss water scoopers, a helicopter and an air attack airplane guiding the suppression efforts – aiding eight BLM AFS smokejumpers on the ground. The aircraft was scooping out of an unnamed body of water about 2-3 miles north of the fire when the incident occurred. Two qualified emergency medical technician smokejumpers assessed the condition of the pilot, who was the sole occupant of the airplane and didn’t identify any injuries. The pilot was flown via BLM AFS helicopter to Fairbanks for further assessment at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital and released. The aircraft was deemed inoperable and will be removed from the scene after further investigation into the incident.

“The aircraft is owned by Dauntless Air Inc. of Appleton, Minn. and is one of four SEATs contracted by BLM AFS for Alaska’s fire season. All four were working on the fire at the time of the incident. The Department of the Interior Office of Aviation Services and the National Transportation Safety Board were notified.”

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Bob. Typos or errors, report them HERE.

accident Alaska AT-802F Fire Boss SEAT

One of the four Alaska Department of Forestry employees hospitalized after airplane crash has been released

Aniak aircraft Crash — The wreckage of an Alaska Division of Forestry aircraft that crashed on takeoff at the Aniak, Alaska airport, May 28, 2020. Photo by David Mattson.

(This is updated information from the Alaska Department of Forestry about the aircraft crash that we earlier reported covered on May 28 and May 29.)

Three of the four Division of Forestry employees injured in a plane crash in the Western Alaska village of Aniak on Thursday are recovering in Anchorage hospitals today while the fourth has been treated and released.

The three individuals still hospitalized suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries and are in stable condition.

The pilot was identified as Mark Jordan, of Eagle River. The three emergency firefighters on board were identified as Albert Simon, of Hooper Bay; Craig Friday, of Hooper Bay; and Kelly Kehlenbach, of Aniak. The plane was en route from Aniak to McGrath, where the firefighters were to be outfitted for an assignment to support initial attack responses at the Kenai/Kodiak Area forestry station in Soldotna.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, which occurred shortly after the plane took off from the Aniak airport at approximately 4 p.m. The plane, a state-owned Aero Commander 500 Shrike, crashed into a pond in a gravel pit.