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Wildfire news, August 18, 2012

Bill GabbertAugust 18, 2012October 8, 2012Uncategorized747 air tanker, air tanker, DC-10, helicopter, NIMO6 Comments

Followup on the fatality of Anne Veseth

The Associated Press has an article that provides more information about Anne Veseth, the firefighter that was killed by a falling snag on Sunday, August 12.

“Her cards were up,” said mother Claire Veseth, 55, a nurse in this college town. “It was an act of God.”

Los Angeles City FD adds another helicopter to its fleet

The Los Angeles City Fire Department is leasing an Erickson Air Crane for four months. This baby has a forward-pointing water cannon designed for high-rise fires. It can fill its tank two different ways, by the usual hover-and-draft mode, or by lowering a pipe and scooping water as it flies at speed over a large water source.

42 uncontained large fires in the US

After having 70 uncontained large fires in the country on Wednesday, that number is now down to 40. The number of incident management teams committed, including Type 1, Type 2, NIMO, and Area Command, has declined from 31 to 28. Six military MAFFS C-130s are still actively working out of Boise and Sacramento.

Smoke from wildfires

The smoke map shows dense smoke in Idaho and also an interesting area of dense smoke over the Atlantic east of Maine.

Wildfire smoke map, 6:36 p.m. MT, August 18, 2012. NOAA (click to enlarge)

USFS issues RFI for Very Large Air Tankers

The U.S. Forest Service has issued a Request for Information which could lead to Call When Needed contracts for Very Large Air Tankers beginning next year continuing through 2015. 10 Tanker Air Carrier currently has a CWN contract for their two DC-10s, but it remains to be seen if any company with VLATs can succeed financially if they are only used for 60 to 100 hours each year, with no guarantees of ANY income. Evergreen in the past has not been interested in signing up their 20,000-gallon 747 Super Tanker on a CWN contract. The RFI specifies that the aircraft must be able to hold at least 10,000 gallons. The USFS expects to issue a Request for Proposals later in the year which they think could lead to one to three VLATs under CWN contracts in 2013. Or… it could lead to none.

Nevada fires update

Kelly AnderssonAugust 8, 2012August 25, 2019Uncategorizedair tanker, DC-10, Nevada2 Comments

The Elko Daily Free Press reported that the 16,000-acre Willow Fire is now the main priority for the BLM’s Elko district. It’s burning north of Battle Mountain; resources on the fire include one of 10 Tanker Air Carrier’s DC-10 aircraft.
Most of the fires in Nevada have not been updated on Inciweb since the middle of July, except for the Lake Fire Complex, which comprises the 162-acre Lake Fire and the 42-acre Murphy Fire on the Bridgeport District of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. Those fires are just south of Wellington, Nevada, and north of Bridgeport, California. The fires started early Sunday afternoon; both are at about 80 percent containment.
The Elko Daily Free Press reported on Monday that 11 major fires were burning in north and central Nevada. A 7,000-acre fire southeast of Alamo was at zero containment, another north of Battle Mountain was at 5,000 acres, and a 3,000-acre fire near there was threatening structures. East of Denio, another fire had reached 3,000 acres.

According to the newspaper report, smaller fires were active 31 miles northwest of Winnemucca, 20 miles northwest of Battle Mountain, 22 miles southeast of Winnemucca, 5 miles southeast of Winnemucca, 25 miles southwest of Winnemucca, 55 miles northwest of Winnemucca, and 65 miles northwest of Winnemucca.

The fires were started Sunday afternoon by lightning.

The 20-Mile Fire northwest of Montello likely won’t be aggressively fought from the ground because thunderstorms and heavy rain in steep terrain last month made entry to the fire area impossible. According to fire managers, mopup, rehab, and demob have been delayed by impassible roads. The fire is 98 percent contained at just over 13,000 acres.

Both DC-10s are being used on fires

Bill GabbertAugust 8, 2012August 30, 2012Uncategorizedair tanker, DC-1014 Comments

Tanker 911 dropping Poco Fire — Tanker 911 dropping on the Poco Fire in Arizona, June 15, 2012. Photo by Ian James.

The U.S. Forest Service has activated one of the DC-10 air tankers twice this year to supplement the fleet of nine exclusive use air tankers available to help firefighters suppress wildfires. But now, for the first time since the Oak Glen fire in 2009, both of 10 Tanker Air Carrier’s DC-10s are working at the same time. On Tuesday both Tanker 910 and Tanker 911 were assigned to fires on which they were the sole air tankers working the fires.

Rick Hatton, President of 10 Tanker Air Carrier, told Wildfire Today:

While this is not the exclusive use contracting we seek, we are hopeful that the contribution two DC 10s will make toward effective fire suppression this season will convince the authorities that multiple 10s should become a permanent part of the future fleet.

The DC-10 always carries 11,600 gallons of retardant and does not have to reduce their load based on density altitude (air temperature and elevation) like all other air tankers. The P2Vs which comprise eight of the nine air tankers now being used on exclusive use use contracts can only carry about 2,000 gallons. The newer next generation air tankers, three of which will begin working on fires later this year if a contract dispute can be settled, have a 3,000-gallon capacity. One BAe-146 that has been operated by Neptune Aviation since last fall can also hold up to 3,000 gallons.

The DC-10 is classified as a “Very Large Air Tanker” and its size makes it impossible to be accommodated at most air tanker facilities. However, it can reload with retardant at eight bases in the western United States, has a cruising speed of 564 mph, and has a capacity equal to almost six P2Vs. A P2V cruises at 225 mph.

Reload bases for the DC-10 air tanker

Bill GabbertAugust 3, 2012November 8, 2012Uncategorizedair tanker, DC-10, Myrtle Fire, South Dakota13 Comments

DC-10 Tanker 911 on the Robbers Fire in California July 15, 2012. Photo by David Wilson. (Click to see a larger version.)

With the DC-10 being activated again, I am reminded of the shortage of air tankers during the Myrtle fire in the Black Hills of South Dakota a few weeks ago, which during the first six hours had no large air tankers. On the radio a conversation between two people in the Operations section could be heard discussing the no-show of the air show. I could sense the frustration in their voices. One of them suggested that they consider requesting the DC-10 Very Large Air Tanker, but they did not know with certainty the nearest air tanker base where it could land and reload with retardant.

They knew that the aircraft is too large for most of the dozens of air tanker bases, since it has a wing span of around 160 feet and a weight of about a half million pounds. The physical layout of the bases and the runway, taxiways, and ramps at the airports are not designed for the size and weight of such a large air tanker.

However, there are eight bases that can accommodate the DC-10 in the western United States, according to Pam Baltimore, an Acting Public Affairs Officer for the U.S. Forest Service in Washington D.C.

SBD – San Bernardino, CA
MCC – McClellen – CA (Sacramento)
MWH – Moses Lake, WA
BOI – Boise, ID
IWA – Mesa-Gateway, AZ (Phoenix)
HIF – Hill AFB, UT
HLN – Helena, MT
CPR – Casper, WY

When contemplating using a DC-10 air tanker on a fire, aviation personnel consider, in addition to the cost per delivered gallon, the fact that it can cruise at 564 MPH, and the retardant capacity of 11,600 gallons, equivalent to almost six P2V or four BAe-146 air tankers, which carry about 2,000 and 3,000 gallons, respectively.

DC-10 Very Large Air Tanker reactivated

Bill GabbertAugust 3, 2012August 30, 2012Uncategorizedair tanker, DC-103 Comments

DC-10 Tanker 911, July 2, 2012 on the Shingle fire in Utah. Photo by Scott G. Winterton (Click to see a larger version.)

The DC-10 Very Large Air Tanker has been activated again. The crew is returning to their base at Victorville, California and will fly the aircraft to Boise to be activated on Saturday.

The fire season in Montana is heating up and today’s Situation Report showed six new large fires in the state. On Thursday a cold front with very strong winds moved across the area and undoubtably had a significant effect on the existing fires.

The DC-10 can carry 11,600 gallons of retardant, about six times more than the P2V air tanker which comprises 8 of the 9 large air tankers currently active under long term contracts. The ship worked on fires for several weeks, receiving very good performance evaluations, before being released from active duty on June 16.

The DC-10 has only been offered a call when needed contract by the U.S. Forest Service, rather than a full-time exclusive use contract. The agency expects the aircraft to be available when they need it, but its owner, 10 Tanker Air Carrier, has said that after this year they will have to shut it down permanently if it is not awarded an exclusive use contract or activated on a regular basis .

DC-10 air tanker sent home

Bill GabbertJuly 18, 2012August 25, 2019Uncategorizedair tanker, DC-1017 Comments

The DC-10 Very Large Air Tanker, Tanker 911, was released June 16 from their Call When Needed assignment by the U.S. Forest Service and sent home, told they were no longer needed. Here are some photos of the aircraft in action over the last couple of weeks on the Shingle Fire in Utah and the Robbers Fire in California. Click on the photos to see larger versions.

Between July 9 and 16 Tanker 911 flew 11 sorties and dropped approximately 127,600 gallons of retardant on the following fires in Oregon, California, and Idaho: Sites, Long Draw, Stout, Miller Homestead, Robbers, and Calf.

Earlier we reported that the DC-10 dropped 373,600 gallons on 33 sorties from June 12 through June 21. If all of those 373,600 gallons had been delivered by a P2V it would have taken about 192 round trips to the fires.

HERE is a link to a video news report about the air tanker from a TV station in Sacramento.

Thanks go out to Trish

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