Video of DC-10 dropping on a fire east of Helena, Montana

Tanker 914, a DC-10, dropping on the Matt Staff RD Fire
Still image from video of Tanker 914, a DC-10, dropping on the Matt Staff RD Fire. MT DNRC.

This article was first published at Fire Aviation.

The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation posted an excellent video of air tanker 914, a DC-10, dropping retardant on the Matt Staff Rd Fire.

The fire has burned 1,538 acres 13 miles east of Helena, Montana between Canyon Ferry Lake and US Highway 287.

All evacuations on the fire were lifted at 8 p.m. Friday, August 5th.  Matt Staff Road is still closed to the public. Montana’s County Assist Team assumed command of the fire at 12 p.m. on August 5th. The cooler temperatures and brief rain Saturday morning were beneficial to firefighting efforts.

The drop

The terrain seen in the video is not extreme, but appears to be outside the parameters NASA expected for a very large air tanker such as a DC-10.

Here is an excerpt from the NASA report issued March 2, 2009, titled “USFS Very Large Air Tanker Operational Test and Evaluation.”

The analysis suggests that for level or gently rolling terrain where level to slight descents (< 6-7%) are required, VLAT-class aircraft could probably be employed with few restrictions as long as they remained above 300’ AGL during the delivery.

Check out the video below posted by Kevin Osborne showing a DC-10 making a downhill drop in 2012 on the Goff Fire on the Klamath National Forest in Northern California.

Names of fires

On a related subject, here is my plea for initial attack and dispatcher personnel to keep the names of fires simple. Fires are usually named after a nearby landmark or geographical feature. One word is preferred, but certainly no more than two. Think about how many times the name will have to written, spoken, and typed into forms. Will spelling be easy, or will it be misleading, such as “Camp Fire”, or Road vs Rd?

Photos of large air tankers working the Alisal Fire in SoCal

Tanker 101 dropping Alisal Fire
Tanker 101, an MD-87, dropping on the northwest side of the Alisal Fire, Oct. 13, 2021. Photo by SBCFD

Since the Alisal Fire started west of Santa Barbara, California on October 11 there have not been many opportunities for firefighting aircraft to work the fire due to the very strong winds. Helicopters have been able to sneak in a few times, but until yesterday and today, October 12 and 13, they have rarely been seen at the fire.

Thanks to a decrease in wind speed, today on FlightRadar24 I saw six large air tankers and two very large air tankers (DC-10s) either over the fire, flying to or from, or taxiing at the Santa Maria airport which is 31 miles northwest of the fire.

Tanker 12 dropping Alisal Fire
Tanker 12, a BAe-146, dropping on the northwest side of the Alisal Fire, Oct. 13, 2021. Photo by SBCFD

These photos are courtesy of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

Tanker 137 dropping Alisal Fire
Tanker 137, a 737, dropping on the northwest side of the Alisal Fire, Oct. 13, 2021. Photo by SBCFD

Wednesday morning the Santa Barbara County Fire Department said the Alisal Fire has burned 14,500 acres, an increase of 1,100 acres over the figure released Tuesday evening. The growth over the last 24 hours has been on all sides, with the exception, of course, where the fire was stopped by the Pacific Ocean on the south. Wildfire Today has more information about the fire.

Tanker 910 dropping Alisal Fire
Tanker 910, a DC-10, dropping on the northwest side of the Alisal Fire, Oct. 13, 2021. Photo by SBCFD
Alisal Fire map
Alisal Fire map 9:45 p.m. Oct. 12, 2021. The red line was the perimeter at 9:45 p.m. PDT Oct. 12, 2021. The white line was the perimeter at 4:12 a.m. Oct. 12. The red dots represent heat detected by satellites at 2:56 a.m. PDT Oct. 13.

Excellent video of DC-10 dropping through smoke

DC-10 dropping on the Almeda Fire
DC-10 dropping on the Almeda Fire, September 8, 2020. Screenshot from the Loren Julien video.

Update September 18, 2020:  The video was shot during the Almeda Fire in Southern Oregon September 8, 2020 by Loren Julien. It was just after he put sprinklers on his sister Annette Julien’s house and left the area —  the house seen with the wet roof. Ms. Julien told me her house did not survive.

Russian plane transports three fire engines from New Jersey to California

September 13, 2020 | 9:05 a.m. PDT

Antonov-124-100 transports New Jersey engine to California
An Antonov-124-100 transported three New Jersey fire engines to California. Photo: San Francisco Fire Department, September 12, 2020.

An Antonov-124-100 transported three New Jersey Forest Fire Service engines and 10 firefighters to San Francisco on Saturday.

Volga Dnepr operates 12 of the aircraft.

Antonov-124-100 transports New Jersey engine to California
An Antonov-124-100 transports New Jersey fire engines to California. NFFS photo by Michael Achey.
Antonov-124-100 transports New Jersey engine to California
An Antonov-124-100 transported New Jersey fire engines to California. Photo: San Francisco Fire Department, September 12, 2020.

And, speaking of very large airplanes, the image below is a screenshot from a great video on Helga Desclouox’s Facebook page of a DC-10 dropping on the Almeda Fire in Southern Oregon, September 8, 2020.

DC-10 dropping Almeda Fire Oregon September 8 2020
DC-10 dropping on the Almeda Fire in southern Oregon. Screenshot from video by Helga Descloux.

The image above of a DC-10 dropping on the Almeda Fire in southern Oregon is a screenshot from a video on Helga Desclouox’s Facebook page.