At the height of the now contained Galena Fire, officials noted most air resources for fighting the fire were unavailable or out of service.
Two Colorado State Senators are introducing a bill aimed at creating a Colorado wildfire air tanker fleet, in hopes critical air resources are never unavailable or delayed again.
As the first major wildfire of the year ravaged tinder dry grass and
trees near Horsetooth Reservoir northwest of Fort Collins, Chief Tom
DeMint of the Poudre Fire Authority
was struggling to find the air support he needed. “You know, in March
it’s a little tough because we’re trying to find resources available,”
said DeMint. A U.S. Forest Service helicopter did make it to the scene
within 48 hours.
While
it seems the fire season in Colorado starts earlier and earlier,
firefighting resources including important air tankers, are actually
positioned elsewhere across the country this time of year.
The
theory is that resources will be near areas with the greatest need.
“Usually the resources are in areas that have fires in March;
California, down in the southeast in the Florida, South Carolina area.
So we have to find the resources where we can,” says DeMint.
Past Performance Indicator of Future Performance
Sen.
Steve King, R-Grand Junction says he’s not convinced the current U.S.
Forest Service fleet can come to the aid of Colorado if needed.“You know
they say that past performance is an indicator of future performance,”
said King, one of the sponsors of the bill.
He estimates it would
cost Colorado around $20 million to fund a state air tanker fleet,
which would be managed by the Colorado Department of Public Safety.
There’s been no official discussion about the number of tankers the
state would purchase, but King says he’s envisioning a very capable
fleet.
“Three air tankers, three command and control fixed wing
airplanes and three or four helicopters stationed throughout the state
during the fire season and I think we would be well on our way to having
control of that situation, and control of the possibility of
catastrophic wildfires,” said King.
National firefighting air
resources like heavy air tankers and helicopters are spread
strategically across the country by the U.S. Forest Service. Steve
Segin, spokesman for the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center
says it’s not effective having resources ready and waiting at times
when fires are uncommon. “If we needed certain aircraft or certain
capabilities there are some things available,” said Segin. “However this
time of the year we just have less of those resources as we do in the
middle of fire season, so May, June, July, August –that time frame.”
Right
now, most of the nation’s air resources are preparing for the typical
start of the fire season. “We don’t have a lot of fire activity, so the
aircraft we do have available, or that are normally available throughout
the fire season are off contract and down for maintenance or that type
of thing,” says Segin.
Maintenance Critical For Year Round Coverage
Jennifer Jones, Fire and Aviation Spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center in
Boise says air resources need to have staggered contracts and
maintenance so there can be year-round coverage. “It is important for
air tankers to be out of service for several months each year so that
the maintenance and inspections can be done and that’s really critical
to ensuring that they fly safely,” said Jones.
Jones says in
addition to the nine air tankers on exclusive use contract to the U.S.
Forest Service, 16 additional ‘private contract’ air tankers are on
standby in case they’re needed. That brings the total air tanker fleet
across the country to 25 planes. That’s still a far cry from the over 40 tankers the forest service had in use in the early 2000’s.
Because
of the low number of all firefighting resources available including air
tankers, Jones says often the Forest Service is maxed out. “It is not
uncommon for all of our assets to be almost fully committed; whether
we’re talking about fire fighters, engines, air tankers, or
helicopters,” said Jones. “And during those periods of time we
prioritize fires to where those that are threatening life, property,
critical natural and cultural resource values receive the assets first.”
State Owned Fleets A Boon For U.S. Forest Service?
Senator
King says he’s not yet reached out to any active member of the U.S.
Forest Service about forming a Colorado air tanker fleet, but Jones says
the Forest Service is helped by other state owned fleets.
“Other
state partners in fire suppression such as the state of California and
the state of Alaska already do have their own air tankers, and the U.S.
Forest Service certainly benefits from that,” said King.
While
the U.S. Forest Service and state Lawmakers grapple with increasing the
number of firefighting air tankers, the threat of another destructive
wildfire season looms. 1,330 fires burned across Colorado last year
scorching 243,811 acres.
With officials saying drought conditions appear to be eerily similar to 2002, Colorado is poised for another long year of fires.
Story and Audio: http://www.kunc.org
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