A Blackhawk and a Homeland Security surveillance aircraft are staged at Burns.
Continue readingInteresting aircraft at Burns Air Tanker Base
FBI stages at Burns Air Tanker Base
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is staging equipment at the Air Tanker Base at Burns Municipal Airport four miles east of Burns, Oregon. The Oregonian reported that FBI personnel were blocking the entrance to the Bureau of Land Management’s Single Engine Air Tanker Base and that “… a large vehicle sat equipped with FBI signage, numerous antennae, a satellite dish and other gear.” Law enforcement officers have been seen at the site for several days.
Continue readingFuel truck added at Burns Airport will help mitigate fuel outages
Below is an excerpt from an article in the Capital Press:
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“During fire season last summer in southeast Oregon, the Burns Municipal Airport ran out of fuel for firefighting airplanes nine times.
With drought expected to bring an even worse wildfire danger this year, airport Manager Jeff Cotton, community members and the Bureau of Land Management, which manages much of range and forestland in the region, began looking for ways to avoid similar shortages and response delays. Having to halt flights until fuel was delivered interrupted the firefighting effort.
Cotton and the others learned a military surplus tanker truck was available at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, and federal General Services Administration approved the airport’s request. The tanker was free, and the BLM paid for two drivers and a low-boy hauling rig to go get it.
The tanker, a 1995 Volvo with only 300 miles on it, holds 6,000 gallons of fuel. Cotton said the rolling cache gives the airport about three days worth of fuel for the air tankers. He’d like more, but he’s glad to have it.
Cotton said he hopes to obtain another tanker truck next fall or spring.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” he said.”