Interview with Wayne Coulson: gel vs. retardant, and their plans for more C-130 air tankers

This is a video interview with Wayne Coulson, CEO of the Coulson Group. The company operates two C-130 firefighting air tankers. Mr. Coulson talked about the use of gel for direct attack on fires, and how in some cases the local fire managers in Australia prefer that rather than indirect attack with long term fire retardant. He also discussed their plans for the company to add more aircraft to their fleet.

Part 3 of Tom Harbour’s Exit Interview

Tom Harbour, National Director of Fire and Aviation Management for the U.S. Forest Service, was interviewed by Bill Gabbert for Wildfire Today, December 14, 2015.

In this final installment of the three part series, Mr. Harbour talked about the Cantwell-Hastings Bill that requires a criminal investigation of firefighter fatalities, fire areas that need more research, the accomplishments he’s most proud of, previous fire directors, what he will do after leaving the USFS and whether or not he will lobby for Lockheed-Martin.

Previously we published Part 1 and Part 2 of the interview.

Part 2 of the Tom Harbour Exit Interview

Part two of the three-part series of interviews with Tom Harbour, National Director of Fire and Aviation Management for the U.S. Forest Service, is now available.

Bill Gabbert interviewed Mr. Harbor for Wildfire Today two weeks before his retirement date. In this segment, Mr. Harbour talks about how many firefighters the USFS will have in 2016, tracking firefighters and the location of a flaming front, smokejumpers, the agency’s responsibility regarding protecting structures, and the decline in the number of air tankers between 2002 and 2013.

UPDATE:  Part 1 and Part 3 of the interview are available.

Tom Harbour, Exit Interview Part 1

Tom Harbour, National Director of Fire and Aviation Management for the U.S. Forest Service, was interviewed by Bill Gabbert for Wildfire Today, December 14, 2015. In this Part 1 of 3, Mr. Harbour talked about his early years, how studying chemical engineering helped him in his USFS job, working with politicians, and what it was like dealing with firefighter fatalities.

UPDATE:  Part 2 and Part 3 of the interview are available.

Interview with Jim Fournier, air tanker pilot

Jim Fournier of New Frontier Aviation flies a Dromader single engine air tanker (SEAT) for the state of South Dakota. On September 1, 2015 we caught up with him at the SEAT base in Hot Springs a couple of hours after he dropped a load of retardant on the Bitter Creek Fire which enabled the firefighters on the ground to tie in the last piece of open fireline, stopping it at 87 acres. Tanker 455 put one 550-gallon load on the fire, split into two drops.

Bitter Creek Fire
Bitter Creek Fire. Photo by Bill Gabbert.
T-455 Bitter Creek Fire
Tanker 455 orbits, sizing up the Bitter Creek fire. Photo by Bill Gabbert.
T-455 Bitter Creek Fire
Tanker 455 descending on final to make a drop on the Bitter Creek Fire. Photo by Bill Gabbert..
T-455 Bitter Creek Fire
Tanker 455 completing a drop on the Bitter Creek Fire. Photo by Bill Gabbert.
T-455, Dromader
Tanker 455, a Dromader. Photo by Bill Gabbert.
T-455, Dromader
Jim Fournier with Tanker 455, a Dromader. Photo by Bill Gabbert.