SEAT Archives - Wildfire Today

Air tanker crash in Portugal kills pilot

Bill GabbertJuly 16, 2022July 16, 2022Uncategorizedair tanker, lodd, Portugal, SEAT

File photo. AT-802. Titan Aerial Firefighting photo.

This article was first published on Fire Aviation.

A pilot died Friday in the crash of an air tanker in Northeast Portugal.

In a message on his official Twitter account, Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa said, “It was with great dismay that I became aware of the death of the pilot who operated an aircraft that crashed this afternoon….I send my deepest condolences to family and friends.”

The Air Tractor AT-802AF Fire Boss went down near the town of Torre de Moncorvo after scooping water on the Douro river. The pilot was the only person on board the single engine air tanker that had departed from Viseu-Gonçalves Lobato Airport (VSE/LPVZ). Photos show that the aircraft was severely damaged. Joao Sousa, mayor of the town of Foz Coa where the incident took place, told Lusa news agency the pilot was pronounced dead at the scene.

The aircraft was operated by Titan Aerial Firefighting which has offices in Spain. The company announced on Saturday that the pilot was André Serra, from Agromontiar.

“On behalf of the whole company, friends and colleagues say goodbye to you,” they wrote. “We offer our deepest condolences to the relatives of André, a great professional and better person who has left us too soon. Rest in peace.”

Our sincere condolences go out to the family, friends, and co-workers of Mr. Serra.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Gerald.

Two pilots killed in mid-air collision while battling wildfire in Nevada

Bill GabbertJuly 31, 2020July 31, 2020Uncategorizedlodd, Nevada, SEAT

UPDATED at 10:15 p.m. MDT July 30, 2020

(This article was first published at FireAviation.com)

Two air tankers collided July 30 while working on the Bishop Fire in southeast Nevada.

The Air Tractor Single Engine Air Tankers, SEATs, were involved in a mid-air collision Thursday afternoon according to Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Claire Morville. There was one person on board each aircraft.

At 10 p.m. MDT July 30 a spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management, Chris Hanefeld, confirmed that the collision occurred earlier in the day at about 12:55 p.m. He said both pilots were killed in the crash. Recovery operations are currently underway and initial notifications are still being made.

“We offer our sincere condolences to the families of the two pilots and to all those working with the BLM Nevada Ely District,” said BLM Nevada State Director Jon Raby.

map Bishop Fire — Map showing heat detected by satellites on the Bishop fire as late as 3 a.m. MDT July 30, 2020.

The Bishop fire, reported July 29, has burned 500 acres 14 miles south-southwest of Caliente, Nevada.

The accident occurred near the intersection of Kane Springs Road and Riggs Road, Ms. Morville said.

The fire is on land managed by the BLM. The two privately owned aircraft were under contract to the agency.

SEATs are small airplanes used to support wildland firefighters on the ground. They can deliver up to 800 gallons of fire retardant and operate in areas where larger airtankers cannot.

The names of the pilots have not been released.

Our sincere condolences go out to the pilots’ family, friends, and coworkers.

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

Fort Carson reports 20 training related vegetation fires in last 12 months

Bill GabbertApril 10, 2018August 25, 2019UncategorizedColorado, Fort Carson, Gert Marais, SEAT4 Comments

Two recent fires started on the base burned a total of 5,000 acres, two homes, numerous outbuildings, and dozens of vehicles.

A spokesperson for Fort Carson, a U.S. Army base south of Colorado Springs, admits that 20 fires in the last 12 months have been a result of training activities on the base, according to KOAA. Below is an excerpt from their report:

On March 16, a fire caused by live ammunition training on a Fort Carson artillery range burned nearly 3,000 acres off Mountain Post property, destroying two homes, numerous outbuildings, and dozens of vehicles. Sunday, a wildfire caused by shooting on the Cheyenne Mountain Shooting Complex public shooting range burned more than 2,000 acres and forced the total closure of a roughly 10-mile stretch of I-25 for more than an hour.

Local residents and elected officials are wondering if there is anything the base can do to reduce the number of fires started by training, such as eliminating dangerous activities during periods of elevated fire danger.

Ten years ago this month the pilot of a single engine air tanker was killed while helping firefighters on the ground contain a fire that started on Training Area 25 at Fort Carson. Wildfire Today wrote about the report released by the National Transportation Safety Board, which indicates there were very strong winds that day when Gert Marais died:

At the time of the crash, a U.S. Forest Service person on the ground who was directing the SEAT estimated that at the time of the crash the wind was out of the southwest at 30-40 knots. Winds at the Fort Carson airfield, 5 miles from the crash site, were between 20 and 40 knots from 1300 to the time of the accident at 1815.

Strong winds like occured on April 15, 2008 often indicate high wildfire danger if the relative humidity is low and the vegetation is dry.

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

Air tanker base, and a fire south of Hot Springs, SD

Bill GabbertAugust 20, 2011August 9, 2016Uncategorizedair tanker, Hot Springs, SEAT, South Dakota

Today I took take a few photos at a grass fire south of Hot Springs, South Dakota, near Angostura Reservoir. Fire departments from Hot Springs, Oelrichs, and Mennekahta responded and had it knocked down pretty quickly.

Fire south of Angostura reservior — An engine and water tender from Oelrichs FD

Returning to Hot Springs, I stopped by the air tanker base at Hot Springs Municipal Airport. Hot Springs is one of five Single Engine Air Tanker (SEAT) bases in or near South Dakota. The others are at Pierre, Buffalo, Lemon, Rapid City (which can also handle large air tankers), and Newcastle, Wyoming. Hot Springs is the main SEAT base and is the only one continuously staffed, and is open June through October.

As far as I know, no air tankers were dispatched to the fire near Angostura Reservoir pictured above. Today Tanker 466 was working out of the base and reloaded numerous times as it worked the Sheep Wagon fire (BKF-622) about 10 miles southeast of Newcastle, WY. The aircraft is operated by Taylor Aviation out of Fort Benton, Montana. South Dakota has one SEAT on exclusive use contract this year but has several others available on Call When Needed (CWN) agreements.

Continue reading “Air tanker base, and a fire south of Hot Springs, SD”

CO: 3 dead on 2 fires; SEAT crashes

BillApril 16, 2008November 19, 2020UncategorizedColorado, crash, lodd, SEAT

From the Rocky Mountain News:

Originally published 09:24 p.m., April 15, 2008
Updated 12:43 a.m., April 16, 2008

Wildfires in warm, windy weather burned into the southeast Colorado town of Ordway and on an Army post Tuesday. A firefighting pilot and two other people died.

All 1,100 residents of Ordway were told to leave, and authorities were not allowing anyone into to the city, said Chris Sorensen, acting spokesman for the Crowley County fire department.

Sorensen said the county coroner confirmed two of the deaths but did not provide any details as to how the people died or where they were found. KRDO Channel 13 in Colorado Springs reported that the two were firefighters and said they were crossing a bridge while riding in a firetruck. The bridge collapsed, trapping the two men underneath. Sorensen said he could not confirm that early this morning.

The pilot died when a crop-duster-type tanker crashed about 6:20 p.m. along Colorado 115 at mile marker 34 near Fort Carson, said Michael Fergus, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration’s northwest region.

No passenger was aboard the plane. The downed aircraft and a second plane involved in the firefighting efforts flew from a base in Sterling, Fergus said.

The FAA believes that the plane was a contract service aircraft to the U.S. Forest Service, Fergus said. But a Forest Service spokesperson could not be reached late Tuesday to confirm it. Fergus said the second plane returned safely to the Sterling base.

The fire at Fort Carson had forced some evacuations late Tuesday and a shelter was set up at a special events center on base, Capt. Gregory Dorman said. The fire had burned about 9,000 acres by late Tuesday and was about 50 percent contained, officials said.

Much of the state was under a National Weather Service red flag warning, signifying high fire danger. Gov. Bill Ritter declared a state of emergency, freeing up state resources to help fight the fire. The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday night authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs.

Weather an obstacle

On the southeastern plains near Ordway, winds were gusting to 50 mph, humidity was low and temperatures reached into the 80s. Dry conditions on the plains and in some mountain valleys contrasted with deep snow at higher elevations.

Ordway, Colorado is 46 miles East of Pueblo, Colorado and 76 miles southeast of Colorado Springs.

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