RIP Jane Wicker and Charlie Shwenker

direct link to video

I want to pause and offer my thoughts and prayers for the families and friends of Jane Wicker and Charlie Shwenker. As many of you know, they both died as the result of a crash at an airshow in Dayton last weekend. Jane was a wing walker and Charlie was the pilot.

May you fly and perform in favorable tailwinds.

West Fork Complex (CO)

I just came across this footage of the West Fork Complex (CO) wildfires from Hon Schlapfer on Vimeo. The description below the video is from Hon Schalpfer. If you have trouble viewing the video in your browser (e.g Chrome for one), click on the link below that says West Fork Complex and you will be taken to the Vimeo page.

West Fork Complex from Hon schlapfer on Vimeo.
One for the record books! June 13-24 2013
Started as ICT3 20 acres in the Wiminuche wilderness San Juan National Forest.Fire ran to 5,000 acres called NIMO Team. west Fork Jumped the continental divide, closed HWY 160,evacuated the town of South Fork,Got the call to get over to the Papoose fire,Evacuated town, found missing Boy Scout troop, and thanks to some solid folks we saved every house...

Update on (civilian) air tankers in the United States.

It is past time for me to write about the situation with the 2013 Federal Tanker Contracts, I do so now.   

Legacy Tankers

You may recall that the United States Forest Service (USFS) awarded the Legacy Airtankers contracts earlier this year. With the announcement of the Legacy Airtanker contract awards there were:

one P2-V on contract from Minden Air,

six P2-V's on contract from Neptune Aviation, and

one BAe-146 on contract from Neptune Aviation

for a total of eight air tankers on national contract.

On May 13th of this year. the USFS entered into a short-term contract for Neptune Aviation's T-41 (a second BAe-146 tanker). So that made nine air tankers on national contract, see the 2013 Airtanker List dated May 23, 2013:

T-48, P-2V, Minden

T-44, P-2V, Neptune

T-07, P-2V, Neptune

T-05. P-2V, Neptune

T-06, P-2V, Neptune

T-43, P-2V, Neptune

T-45, P-2V Neptune

T-41, BAe-146, Neptune

T-40. BAe-146, Neptune

Next Generation Tankers

Let's see, now we get into the Next Generation Tanker Contract awards. On May 6th, the USFS issued a notice of intent to award Next Generation Airtanker Contracts to:

Minden Air Corp (Minden, NV) -- 1 BAe-146

Aero Air LLC (Hillsboro, OR) -- 2 MD87s

Aero Flite, Inc (Kingman, AZ) -- 2 Avro RJ85s

Coulson Aircrane USA -- 1 C130Q

10 Tanker Air Carrier, LLC -- 1 DC-10 (only aircraft certified to fly as a tanker as of 6/26/13)

To quickly bring us up to date on the evolution of these Next Gen Tanker contracts, Neptune Aviation did not receive a notice of intent to award a Next Gen Tanker contract from the USFS and filed a protest  several days after the USFS announced the intended recipients of the Next Gen Tanker Contracts. On May 31, the USFS awarded Next Gen Contracts to Minden, Coulson, and 10 Tanker Air Carrier (these lines were not under protest), and one of the DC-10 tankers went on contract shortly there after. Neptune Aviation withdrew their protest on June 7, and the USFS announced their final awards under the Next Gen Tanker Contract adding Aero Air LLC and Aero Flite.  The contractors have between 60 and 90 days to get the remaining six aircraft awarded Next Gen Contracts certified, meaning that the all seven Next Gen Tankers should be certified to fly fires sometime in August, if not sooner.

So with the addition of the one DC-10 tanker (the only one of the seven with all of her certifications) under the exclusive-use Next Gen Tanker Contract we had ten tankers on national contract on or about June 7.

Very Large Airtanker Call-When-Needed Contracts

On June 14th, the USFS awarded a Call When Needed (CWN) Contract  to 10 Tanker Air Carriers second DC-10 as well as to Evergreen's 747 tanker (20,000 gallon capacity). This is the first time in three years that Evergreen has had a CWN contract. Bill Gabbert broke the news here and reported on the activation of 10 Tanker Air Carriers second DC-10 on June 14. I'm not sure when one of Evergreen's 747 tankers will be ready to be activated.

The finally tally of civilian tankers on contract to date

is eleven: seven P2-Vs, two BAe-146 tankers from Neptune, and two DC-10 tankers (one under the Next Gen Contract and the second under the CWN contract).

I am not certain when the Evergreen 747 will be ready to be activated under the CWN contract, so I'm not yet linking her with an activation date.

The six remaining Next Gen Tankers still have to certified and should (hopefully) be flying fires sometime in August if not sooner. 

More information

Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation has covered the various national tanker contracts (Legacy, Next-Generation, and VLAT Call-When Needed) in some detail, you might want to check out his Fire Aviation site or his Wild Fire Today site. Mr. Gabbert has written a number articles going back to 2011, a good starting point is the article that he wrote on June 17, 2013.

Mike Archer of the Fire Publications Blog has reported on these contracts over the last year plus.

American Helicopter Services and Aerial Firefighting Association

Associatied Aerial Firefighters

Neptune Aviation looking for international contracts

In today's Firebomber Publications article, Mike Archer lead off with a press release from the American Helicopter Services & Aerial Firefighting Association announcing that Neptune Aviation is pursuing international contracts for their BAe-146 tankers.

The press release says in part:

According to Ronald Hooper, Chief Executive Officer of the Missoula, Montana-based company, Neptune Aviation Services submitted a formal bid last January to provide one BAe 146 to the Australian National Fire Agency. If the bid is successful, the tanker would be deployed to Australia to assist in firefighting activity, along with a pilot, copilot, two mechanics, and a corporate liaison who would function as the interface between the company and the fire agency. The contract, said Hooper, would coincide with the length of Australia’s fire season, which runs from November through January. 'We expect to find out in August or September, if our bid is successful,' he noted.

Hooper also reported that over the past few months, the company has fielded inquiries from the national firefighting agencies of Spain and Brazil.

More wildfires in Colorado

direct link to video and a news report from ABC7 News - The Denver Channel

Knowing that there are a number of large wildfires burning in Colorado, I went to ABC7 News - The Denver Channel to look at their coverage. As I write this, they have a "fire alert news page" with maps, videos, pictures, etc. of the wildfires currently burning in Colorado. I was especially intrigued by the video that I embedded because of an interesting interview with Craig Heule of the Rocky Mountain Management Team where Mr. Heule discusses some of the difficulties and attendant safety concerns with aerial attack on these fires.  Wildfire Today has been reporting on the Colorado Fires here. 

Finally, Paul Filmer (photographer - skippyscage) just wrote an article with some spectacular photos of aerial assets that worked some of the earlier June wildfires in Colorado. Paul's article may be found on Global Aviation Resource. He has some great photos of a SEAT, CH-47 and UH-60 helos and buckets, MAFFS, P-2V tankers, and a DC-10 tanker.

Reflections on a special flying boat, the Hawaii Mars (aka the Martin Mars)

Yesterday I saw an article from Canadian Skies reporting that this summer (2013) may be the last summer that Coulson's Martin Mars (known as the Hawaii Mars) may be on contract with the British Columbia Forest Service (BCFS). That is, it seems that this may the last summer that the Hawaii Mars is on what is known as a direct-award contract with the BCFS. Unfortunately, the Canadian Skies article is no longer available online (revised on Oct. 12, 2015) I found another article, this one from the Times Colonist (dated May 10, 2013) reporting that 2013 is the last summer that the Hawaii Mars will be awarded a direct-award contract from the BCFS. Finally, I found reference to another report this one from the Alberni Valley times (5/10/2013) Coulson's Martin Mars webpage, but was unable to access the Alberni Valley Times article. 

I don't wish to engage in speculation about the future of the Hawaii Mars, nor am I exactly in the position to have knowledge of how the BCFS contracts for aircraft used in wildland firefighting operations. I love the Hawaii Mars and you holds a special place in my heart. I have never seen you in person, I have a couple of videos showing you working fires at home. And I had the opportunity to watch a live stream of you firebombing run over Mt. Wilson on the Station Fire. The Mt. Wilson Observatory is a historic place that is near and dear to me, and Hawaii Mars you were but one of the aerial players working in support of the firefighters on the ground on the Station Fire. Together, all of you helped to save that special place. And other special places that I don't know about.

Hawaii Mars and crew, I love you. I know that all of you at Coulson who are a part of your team love you and take care of you to keep you in flying shape. You worked well on the wildfires in Mexico a year or so, I saw you in action in Mexico on Mighty Planes on cable. You have done good work in British Columbia in past years. And of course there is your work in the U.S.

I don't exactly know what to say. As I said, I won't engage in speculation. I want what is best for you and your crew.

Enjoy these two videos of the Martin Mars known as the Hawaii Mars doing what she does best. Allow about ten minutes to watch both videos.

Martin Mars taking off from Lake Elsinore in Southern CA (Nov 2007)

direct link to video on youtube from LakeElsinoreCAM

Martin Mars making drop on Mt. Wilson during aerial firebombing operations during the Station Fire, late Aug 2009 (Video is from ABC 7 in Los Angeles CA)

direct link to video on youtube

Revised on October 12, 2015

DC-10 tanker working Doce Fire (Prescott AZ)

CBS 5 - KPHO
direct link to video from KPHO-CBS5

A nice 4 minute video of one of the DC-10 tankers dropping on the Doce Fire (link to inciweb, may be slow loading) that is currently burning near Prescott Arizona. There is some very nice audio to go along with the video. Stay safe everyone!

T-06 taking off at KPRC (Prescott AZ)

direct link to video by MongoLikeCandy01

Gotta love the sound of those engines! :-) Perhaps going to drop on on the Doce Fire (link to inciweb, may be slow loading) currently burning near Prescott AZ?

Aerial Agricultural Operations

As some regular readers of this blog know, I got interested in aerial agricultural operations last year and with the help from my friends at Downstown Aero, I have begun to learn more about the world of aerial agricultural operations. Last year I subscribed to Ag Air Update, a publication of the National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA). I encourage any of you who are interested in learning about agricultural aviation to check out either site. Ag Air Update has a weekly Ag Air e-mailed news update that I subscribed to a while back, if you are interested, you may subscribe on the Ag Air Update homepage.

I'll be writing about ag aviation from time to time, including but not limited to what my friends at Downstown Aero are up to. At present Downstown is in their busy spraying season, spraying blueberries and cranberries. Rains and winds have meant that they have to do catch up work in order to keep on track. I hope to go down to the Pine Barrens in the next week or so to get a first hand view of what they are doing and to get some pictures. 

You may recall that Downstown has a contract with the New Jersey Forest Fire Service to provide SEATs during the spring fire season. When Downstown's SEAT's are finished with the spring fire season, they are used for aerial spraying operations.

I learned about the two videos that I am embedding below from this weekly Ag News weekly news update. They are trailers for an Australian documentary on aerial agriculture called Seasons. There is some great footage of aerial agricultural operations that I thought you might enjoy. 

Watch this one first:

direct link to video

Then watch this video:

direct link to video

Reflections on following wildfires on the radio

I was out of town for a few days last week and away from easy access to the internet access. So, I lost the ease of access to the internet to follow news in the business of aerial wildland firefighting. However, I did have a radio. I believe it was last Wednesday when I first heard about the Black Forest Fire (north of Colorado Springs CO) on an hourly news report on National Public Radio. What did I know from these reports? I knew that there were many evacuations and some residences had been destroyed. I knew that there were fires burning in four states, including Colorado. As the week wore on, the number of residences destroyed increased and I knew that large numbers of people were under mandatory evacuation. 

Finally, on Friday evening I made a point to listen to a longer news show on NPR and heard a slightly longer report that explicitly referred to air tankers working the fire. By this time, I knew from news reports that there were two deaths and that large numbers of folk remained under mandatory evacuations.

However, while my first hand knowledge of this fire was limited I knew that the Black Forest Fire was a major fire with a large number of destroyed buildings and at least two deaths. I figured that airtankers and hells were working the fire, and it turns out that my suspicions were correct. I found my thoughts turning to all of the ground crews, tanker and help pilots and supporting crews who were working the fire. I knew that the deaths saddened all concerned. I knew that no ground or aerial wildland firefighter likes to lose houses. 

And while I was reliant, for the most part, on NPR for news, I thought back to the summer of 2008 when I was again away from the internet and reliant on NPR for news. I had finished writing in my blog about my trip to Malawi and was struggling a bit about what to write about next. I heard many news reports on NPR about a fire that was burring in southern California not far from where a couple of friends of mine lived. I started writing about that fire and about my process of learning about the world of wildland firefighting. A few months later, I began writing about aerial wildland firefighting. And here I am five years later. Only this time, when I heard reports about the Black Forest Fire, I had an idea based on what I was hearing on the radio, about what all of you wonderful ground and aerial wildland firefighters were doing. 

And just as important, even though the other wildfires that were then burning were not "named", I knew that there were other ground crews and other tankers and helos working other wildfires in other states.

Stay safe out there.

I am sharing a video that Mike Archer of the Fire Bomber Publications Blog shared last Thursday, June 13th. You will see some video of last Wednesday's (June 12) air attack operations on the Black Forest Fire. I'm not sure if the embed code works so you may not see the video below, if not here is a direct link to video and report from kdvr.

About the CL-415

Enjoy this video on how the CL-415 water scooping firebomber works.

 
direct link to video

On contract in California


direct link to video

About the C-130 MAFFS

There are eight Air National Guard/Air Force Reserve C-130s spread arose four military installations that can be equipped with a modular airborne fire fighting system (MAFFS). These C-130 MAFFS are used for aerial firefighting when all commercial air tankers are already committed or are not available. Up through June 7, 2013, I am not aware of any C-130 MAFFS that have been called up for aerial firefighting duty. You may download a fact sheet describing the MAFFS from this NIFC link (a MS Word docx file. The Air Force Reserve Command (302nd Airlift Wing at Peterson AFB, CO) has their own fact sheet describing the MAFFS that you may find here. Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation wrote a very informative article on Ten Things to Know About MAFFS, I certainly learned something from his article.

The 302nd Airlift Wing provides two C-130s that can be equipped with MAFFS units. The remaining three military units providing two C-130s each are: the 153^rd Airlift Wing, Wyoming Air National Guard, Cheyenne; the 145^th Airlift Wing, North Carolina Air National Guard, Charlotte; and the 146^th Airlift Wing, California Air National Guard, Port Hueneme.

Loading the modular airborne fire fighting system (MAFFS) onto an Air National Guard C-130

direct link to video

C-130 MAFFS in action

direct link to video

C-130 MAFFS in action

direct link to video

British Columbia Forest Service: History of Aviation

As promised, I am following up on the article I posted on June 7, 2013

where I shared a link to a video history of the British Columbia Forest Service (BCFS). Today I will share links to information about the history of aviation in the British Columiba Forest Service.

Over a year ago a friend from British Columbia and retired tanker pilot told me about a three-part history of aviation in the BCFS that is available from the folk at the BC Forest Service Centenary Society. I have read most of this three part history which is chock full of some really great photographs. Here is the three part history (links to pdf files):

• History of Aviation in the BC Forest Service: -- Part 1: Transport, Supply and Reconnaissance
• History of Aviation in the BC Forest Service: -- Part 2: Air Tanker Operations
• History of Aviation in the BC Forest Service: -- Part 3: Helicopters

I share another historical video from BCFS100ca from the mid 1980s on fire management techniques In British Columbia, called On the Fire Line. This is the description from the video's about page:

Date produced: 1986
Description: An historical look at wildfire management techniques and technology at use in the mid 1980s. A perspective following the devastating 1985 fire season.

The video shows all aspects of fighting wildfires in British Columbia in 1985 including but not limited  to how Conair's tankers helped slow the spread of the wildfire in support of the firefighters on the ground. When I say all aspects, I mean just that from deploying ground resources, to behind the scenes fire management, to aerial resources, to how wildfires are fought and contained. to the role of the public, to a discussion of large fires, and more. While historic in nature with some great footage of Conair's airtanker fleet from the mid 1980s (DC-6 and Firecats), the message is timely. The 30 minutes that you will spend watching the video is well worth it. 

History of the British Columbia Forest Service

As some of you know, I have been spending some time learning more about aerial firefighting in Canada. I have always been a bit of a history buff, so I like to spend some time learning more about the history of the provincial forest services in Canada and their history.

I have a couple of friends from British Columbia, so I have naturally been interested in learning more about British Columbia.

One of my friends turned me on to a website celebrating the 100th anniversary of the British Columbia Forest Service, the British Columbia Forest Service's Centenary (BCFS) Website. I have spent some time exploring their site, and could easily spend hours more on this site. One of my friends from western Canada told me that they had some videos, so I went to this page on the BCFS Centenary Website and found a link to a 26 minute video where I learned about the history of the BC Forest Service. Embedding has been disabled by the folk from BCFS Centenary. You can go to youtube and watch this video (1988?) -- A Proud Past: the 75th Anniversary of the BC Forest Service.

On Monday June 9, I'll share some information from the BCFS Centenary Website on the history of aerial firefighting in British Columbia, so stay tuned.

Updates: New Mexico wildfires and Powerhouse Fire (CA)

An update on the Thompson Ridge and Tres Lagunas Fires still burning in New Mexico.

NM wildfire update and fire forecast

The Thompson Ridge Fire is at 10 percent containment, having burned 14,430 acres. According to the latest news update on inciweb (June 7, 2013), three air tankers and four helicopters are available to provide to help the ground crews fight the fire. Meanwhile the Tres Lagunas Fire has burned 10,040 acres and is 34 percent contained. Seven helicopters are working the fire. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today wrote an article about these two fires today that you might want to check out for more information on the fires, some photos and maps.

Following up on the Powerhouse Fire (Southern CA), acreage burned has been downgraded to 30,274 acres. Current containment is at 84 percent. All evacuation orders have been lifted. A total of 24 residences were destroyed.

revised on June 7, 2013 at 8:50 PM EDT

Powerhouse Fire: Ground and Air Attack

direct link to video

Funny how things happen. I have spent some time the last couple of days looking for a short video showing tankers and helos working a fire AND firefighters on the ground for a project I am working on. I came upon the video I share above which has all the elements that I was looking for plus some fire footage. It is a tad long for the project in question. But that won't stop me from sharing this here. It is a great video by Firegroundaction, footage from day 3 (June 2) of the Powerhouse Fire. Allow a little under eight minutes to watch the video.

As I write this, the Powerhouse Fire has burned 32,032 acres and is at 70 percent containment.

DC-10 Tanker 911 to AZ and wildfires in New Mexico

Some of you may have already seen the video (below) from ABC15 in Phoenix Arizona that was previously reported by Michael Archer in today's Fire Publications Blog, or perhaps you saw this same video on Bill Gabbert's Fire Aviation Site. I thought that some of you who have not seen this video might be interested. Tanker 911 (DC-10 tanker) left California yesterday where she had worked the Powerhouse Fire (65% contained, burned 32,032 acres) for Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Arizona where she was deployed to work on the Thompson Ridge Fire in New Mexico. She carries 11,600 gallons of retardant.

direct link to video and news report

Fires currently burning in New Mexico include the Tres Lagunas Fire (15% containment, 9,000 acres burned and the Thompson Ridge Fire (5 % containment; 9.394 acres burned. The Los Alamos Daily Post has an article (dated 6/4/13) and some photos of the Thompson Ridge Fire that may be found here. Here is a report from the Los Alamos Monitor (updated on June 5 with videos of news conferences about the fire) on the Thompson Ridge Fire and T-911's work on that fire.

Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation reports on more details on T-911's arrival at Phoenix, her work on the Powerhouse Fire in CA and her work on the Thompson Ridge Fire here, thanks for your reporting Bill. Thanks to Michael Archer's Fire Publications Blog for leading me to some of the articles about the fires in New Mexico.

NASA has posted a satellite image of the Tres Lagunas and the Thompson Ridge Fires that may be found here.

T-11, I will not forget you

I want to pause and remember T-11 and her crew who crashed on June 3, 2012 while working the White Rock Fire near Hamblin Valley Utah. There were no survivors

Pilot: Todd Neal Tompkins
Co-Pilot: Ron Edwin Chambless

I will never forget you. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten. I know that you are flying in favorable tail winds.

Edited on October 24, 2017, I had originally shared a CNN video report where T-11 was one of the tankers making a drop. This was meant to be a tribute to T-11 and her crew. Gone but not forgotten. May you continue to flew in favorable tail winds.

I offer my loving intentions to Ron and Todd's family, their colleagues, and all who loved them.

Powerhouse Fire (Southern CA) - update #4

I've been spending a lot of time continuing to look around to find footage of tankers and helos working the Powerhouse Fire for you. Earlier today I was reading about the Powerhouse Fire somewhere on the internet and saw a reference to a nice video of T-911, one of the DC-10 tankers, dropping on the Powerhouse Fire. So, I went on some TV news sites from Los Angeles and found this video with some footage of T-911 from KABC in Los Angeles (from a late night broadcast on Sunday June 2).

I've been having some trouble with the embed code from KABC, it works in chrome and safari on my Mac but not in firefox. The direct link worked at the time I posted this article.

direct link to video and associated report

According to the latest inciweb update for this fire (this page is updated periodically so you may find different information) the fire has burned 29,584 acres and is at 40% containment.

Southern California Public Radio (89.3 KPPC) has a couple of nice pages of photos, from a report on Sunday, June 2 and more photos from their most recent report earlier today (Monday, June 3). Last night I watched about 30 to 45 minutes of live stream from a news helo over the Powerhouse Fire. Some of the tankers were a little hard to identify with certainty because of the distance, but I think I saw some of CAL FIRE's S-2T tankers. I took the photo below last year when I visited Ramona AAB

CAL FIRE S2-T, T-70 at Ramona AAB

And I did see a really nice close-up of one of Neptune Aviation's  P2-V airtankers. I believe it was  T-07, but even if I got the wrong tanker it was one of Neptunes P2-V's.

I wrote earlier articles on the Powerhouse Fire on

Friday, May 31
Sunday, June 2 (12:50 PM EDT)
Sunday, June 2 (6 PM EDT)  {videos include some footage of tankers and helos working the fire}

Powerhouse Fire (Southern CA): update #3

Some footage of the Powerhouse Fire. You will see T-41 and a helo (working at night) in the first video. In the second video (from KABC), you will see one of the destroyed houses, a Sikorsky S-64 making a drop and some aerial footage from a news helo. Containment is now at 20% with 19,500 acres burned, see the latest report from Inciweb.




direct link to video

Powerhouse Fire (Southern CA) - update #2

I just accessed a report on the Powerhouse Fire from Inciweb, reporting that the fire has burned 19,500 acres in steep terrain with 20 percent containment. Inciweb also reports that eight airtankers including one of the DC-10 tankers and eight helicopters have been working the fire. Evacuations have been ordered and an evacuation center has been set up.

I believe that the video embedded below from KCBS is dated late Saturday night, June 1 and the details reported may have changed. I include it because they had some nice footage of the fire.

direct link to video from CBS Los Angeles

LA Times article on Powerhouse Fire (June 2 at 8:53 AM PDT)

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today continues to provide updates on the Power House Fire here. I had heard on my local radio this morning that some structures have been destroyed by the Power House Fire. Thanks to Bill's reporting, I found a link to a story from KABC in Los Angeles reporting on that some structures have been lost, the story may be found here and KABC has a photo gallery of the fire.