Copyright 2006 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Los Angeles Newspaper Group, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
By LEONOR VIVANCO
San Gabriel Valley Tribune (California)
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — It’s a tanker in their arsenal of weapons they could use to fight their fiery battles.
Regional and local firefighters watched Wednesday as a stripped down 747 aircraft sprayed water 500 feet above the ground at San Bernardino International Airport as it would be used to fight wildfires.
But fire officials had questions about Evergreen International Aviation’s 747 Supertanker as they remained vigilant at the start of fire season.
“It has potential. However, we don’t have any actual fire experience with it to really know how it will perform out in fire conditions,” said Mike Dietrich, San Bernardino National Forest fire chief.
The tanker had no passenger seats on board, only pressurized water tanks that can carry 20,000 gallons to be released by four nozzles that can each turn on and off at will.
“The real advantage of the Supertanker is the ability to drop at high altitudes,” said Sam White, Evergreen’s senior vice president.
“We believe we can operate safely at night and the reason that’s important is because fires tend to become more dormant at night,” he said. “We’re basically bringing the rainstorm to the fire.”
The capabilities of the plane are yet to be tested, said California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection aviation chief Mike Padilla.
But he has had experience with tankers that carried more than 3,000 gallons and used it to create a weather pattern change on the fire.
“It was very useful for us to be able to get the fire crews in there while the humidity was up and temperature was down,” he said.
Padilla said he wants to look at how the Supertanker would be used in different fire scenarios and how it fits with its current firefighting strategies and tactics.
He also questions at what point in the fire the plane would be used and its availability to access it.
“Whoever has the biggest need will probably have it,” Padilla said.
Other factors to consider include cost effectiveness, how the plane performs in high winds and steep terrain, and how the drop off affects firefighters on the ground, Dietrich said.
He said he could not say whether the Supertanker would have made a difference in fighting the Old Fire.