By Charles D. Brunt
Albuquerque Journal
Copyright 2007 Albuquerque Journal

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Those in the business of predicting New Mexico's wildfire season say we're looking at a fairly typical year. But those in the business of aerial firefighting, as always, are gearing for the worst.

Last week, C-130H3 military cargo planes were in the skies of central New Mexico to practice bombarding forest fires with fire-retardant slurry.

Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard wings from Colorado, Wyoming, California and North Carolina were training out of the U.S. Forest Service's Air Tanker Base at Kirtland Air Force Base.

The planes, equipped with the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System, are called in when Forest Service-contracted slurry planes can't handle the workload, said mission commander Maj. Dave Condit with the 302nd Airlift Wing, based at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs.

Although last week's training was held in Albuquerque, East Mountains fire crews did not take part, according to Karen Takai, fire information and public affairs officer for the Sandia Ranger District.

The training was on the aircraft itself and supporting crews and troops, which did not involve East Mountain personnel, she said.

Takai said it is hard to judge how likely an air tanker is to be deployed in the East Mountains because "everything that happens in fire (management) is like a kaleidoscope ... There could be other circumstances that pull the (air tankers) out earlier."

Contributing factors include where a fire is, how big it is and how many firefighters are nearby.

Takai also noted that it isn't air tankers that stop a fire, but ground crews. Aircraft can slow a fire so that a firefighting crew can get close enough to do its job.

"Most people think air tankers are the end-all," she said.

The firefighting helicopter based in the East Mountains is on a 14-day assignment in the north-central U.S., Takai said.

The unit itself is not assigned to the East Mountains, but is a national resource. It's the same with fire crews, according to Takai.

"If we're in slow fire season our fire crews will go out and support where the fire danger is high," she said.

That also means, should a severe fire start, a unit can be pulled from elsewhere and used in the East Mountains.

If the C-130s are needed in New Mexico this year, they're likely to be headed south, according to the Albuquerque-based Southwest Coordination Center, an interagency center that coordinates wildland firefighting resources throughout New Mexico, Arizona and western Oklahoma and Texas.

The potential for wildfires this year is above normal in the southern half of the state, and normal or below normal in northern New Mexico.

Meanwhile, rainfall and snowpack levels in the northern half of the state are likely to lessen the potential for fires this season.