Fire activity at tanker base increases

MOSES LAKE - It's quiet at the Moses Lake Air Tanker Base, as planes sit on the tarmac and pilots get some much-needed rest.

But things can change at a moment's notice - and they often do, base manager Robert Meade said recently.

When calls for air support come in to the Moses Lake base, crews are able to fill up planes with thousands of gallons of fire retardant and send pilots on their way within minutes, he said.

"We never really know what's going to happen on a certain day, it all depends on the fire activity," Meade said.

The Colockum Tarps fire kept crews at the base busy for most of last week.

"The other day, we flew five loads in the DC-10," he said. "It was the only tanker we had at the time, but we took 50,000 plus gallons (of retardant) to the fire that day."

A DC-10 Air Tanker, which can hold about 11,000 gallons of fire retardant, currently sits at the Moses Lake base.

There are also two Lockheed P2V tankers, which can each hold about 2,082 gallons of retardant, and a smaller "lead plane" at the base. The P2V tankers and the lead plane belong to Montana-based Neptune Aviation, Meade said.

The Moses Lake base is what's considered a full-service tanker base, he said. Each fire season, both privately-owned planes and federally-funded tankers fly in and out of the base. Meade said pilots help fight fires in the immediate area as well as throughout the Northwest.

"When we have tankers we might send them to Oregon, Idaho or Montana, but they might not necessarily come back to this base," he said. "Other planes might take their place, or maybe they go lay retardant and come right back."

Meade said it all depends on where the need is greatest.

"Everything is need driven," he said.

Meade said about 180,000 gallons of retardant have gone out on planes so far this season. On average, the base uses anywhere from 300-350,000 gallons a year.

Last year, the base used more than half a million gallons of retardant, Meade said. Most of that retardant was sent out during September's fire spurt, he said.

"The fire activity last year wasn't as intense until September," Meade said. "Within a 10-day period we went through 350,000 gallons."

In 2011, the base used only 32,00 gallons of fire retardant.

"That's because we didn't have a bad fire season," Meade said.

He said the air tankers that fly in and out of the Moses Lake base play just a small part in fighting area fires. Fires are also put out by ground crews that work around the clock, Meade said.

"We're just one tool in the toolbox," he said.

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