Airtankers in rescue operations
In light of the recent tragic loss of our Fighters burned over on the Yarnell hill fire in
Arizona there has been much speculation and conjecture on “what would have
happened if airtankers had been on the scene”. As in any accident/incident
investigation speculation and assumptions must be disregarded. Conclusions must
be based only on established facts determined by trained investigators after
exhaustive research is completed. The use of counterfactuals or what might have
been is an exercise in futility.
Looking back at our history though provides us with examples where air support
from fixed wing airtankers and firefighting helicopters did make the difference.
My first example occurred in 1987; The Lauder Fire caused by arson resulted in the
burn over of a Helitac team near Ukiah California. I was a first year Tanker Captain
in an S-2 based at Redding California. At breakfast about 9 AM my beeper went off.
I took one more bite, paid the bill and headed for the base. Upon my arrival Chief
Reid Steinbeck meet me at my plane. He handed me a dispatch and said “a helitack
crew has been burned over, go get em”. I launched without the benefit of a proper
preflight. It was about a 30minute flight in the old recip and I arrived. What I saw
as I rounded the last mountain will be etched into my memory forever. An intense
fire burning up a 70% slope in heavy brush and tall snags with what looked like a
small camp of silver tents about two thirds up and in the right flank. The tents were
covered with fire retardant but they were in an area that was still burning. CDF
Helicopter Pilot Nick Mullet was dropping water on the crew while continuously
talking to them trying to reassure them and calm them down.
The fire had started early in the morning well before tanker time. Just by chance S-2
Tanker Pilots Bob Valette and Doug Baker were each listening to their scanners at
home and heard a desperate situation developing. Both of them called ECC and
asked if they could help. They were told to get to their tankers and proceed to the
fire. When they arrived the crew had already deployed their shelters. Without any
time to clear a safety zone they went through the flames and into the burn as a last
resort. The Air Attack Officer overhead had been the Helictack Crew’s Leader the
previous year and was overwhelmed by watching his old crew now in the burn
making desperate pleas for help. Pilot Baker took charge of the air operation talking
directly with the Crew Leader. Desperate transmissions from the ground like “were
dying” and “can’t breath” prompted Doug to take immediate action. Doug and Bob
made the drops that gave the crew a safety zone and Nick, dropping water from his
helicopter, cooled them off as they lay in a bed of hot coals.
They had completed the job just before I arrived. I marveled at how the tankers had
made the supportive drops. It looked as though at least some of the drops were
made just prior to entering the convection column on that steep slope over a forest
of 100-foot tall dead snags from a previous fire. A very risky action to undertake but
without that air support it is unlikely that any of them would have survived. One
Firefighter, Denis Lee Cullin, perished in his fire shelter.
The second example happened the same year on the Crank Fire. A lightning caused
fire near Canby California had burned about five acres. I was dispatched to the fire
and on arrival I was cancelled and diverted because the fire was contained. When I
returned to Chester Tanker Base for a reload and fuel I learned that the Crank Fire
was now out of control and had engulfed the crews on scene. A sudden lightning
storm passed over the fire throwing embers and firebrands in every direction. The
intense winds and extreme fire behavior put the crew right in the middle of the new
fire. They abandoned their fire trucks and crew busses as the intense flames
enveloped them. Good leadership from the Crew Captains was key in getting
everyone out onto a two-track road and into their shelters. We were dispatched to
the incident from Chester Tanker Base, too far away to arrive in time.
One CDF Helicopter, piloted by Garry Schooler dropped buckets of water through
the smoke continuously in what can only be described as extreme fire behavior.
Once again I arrived after the worst of it was over. I could see the crew with their
shelters draped over their heads walking out of the fire down the narrow dirt road.
The CDF Copter continuously supported their egress with bucket drops. It had been
a very close call. The entire event was captured on film by the ORE Team and is still
used today for training Firefighters.
The third example was a Park Service Crew at a fire in Yosemite. Park rules dictated
that the fire should only be fought with hose lays and hand tools. No dozers or
airtankers would be used in the Park unless a “threat to life” situation developed
and that is precisely what happened.
A Park Service Crew made up with Firefighters that had never worked together
before was inserted to construct a hand line up hill supported with a hose lay from a
pump down in the creek. The night shift constructed the line and stopped for a brief
rest with part of the crew trying to get some sleep. They were rudely awakened by a
report from lookouts that their hose lay had been burned over and that the fire had
jumped the line and was closing on their position. The crew leader ordered that a
safety zone be constructed immediately for a shelter deployment. Because a “threat
to life” situation now existed airtankers were dispatched.
Two S-2 airtankers from Columbia AAB were launched on their position. As the
fire advanced the Firefighters knew that they would have to ride it out in their fire
shelters. They had their shelters ready and jettisoned their chainsaws, flares and
gasoline into the brush as far away from their safety zone as possible. With the head
of the fire now in sight converging on the firefighters The S-2s piloted by Jimmy
Dunn and Gary Nagel arrived on scene. They dropped their retardant just in front of
the hastily constructed clearing at maximum coverage level. The safety zone was
now secure enough that the Firefighters did not have to get into their shelters. The
fire hit the retardant and burned around them.
My Nephew Brent had been one of the Park Service Firefighters that would have
been burned over had it not been for the action taken by the tankers. He is the only
reason that we learned how important those drops had been. He called me and gave
me the tanker numbers and asked if I could please thank the pilots for him. I did.
The fourth example was at the vision fire near Point Reyes California. Some kids had
a small campfire going on Mt. Vision in late October. Lack of a wetting rain and dry
Northeast winds combined making burn conditions extremely dangerous.
Embers escaped the fire pit and ignited the brush on the ground. The fire climbed
rapidly into the forest canopy developing into a firestorm throwing embers and
firebrands far ahead of the original fire. The high winds drove the fire rapidly
toward a group of homes that were surrounded by brush and Douglas fir trees.
Marin County Fire Captain Tim Thompson took an engine down a narrow road, into
the community to try and evacuate the residents. Just as they arrived the fire hit.
The heat was so intense that the taillight lenses on the fire truck were melting. At
that very moment an old DC-4 Air Tanker piloted by Captain Dean Talley arrived on
the scene and salvoed 2000 gallons of retardant directly on their position. Needless
to say they were all very relieved by Dean’s quick action and precision drop that
prevented them from being burned over.
Firefighters are trained to fight fire without expectation of having air support. Too
many variables exist to insure that aviation assets will be overhead at exactly when
a critical situation develops. It is more effective to use airtanker drops to secure the
line and create “safety zones” making ground firefighters safer in the first place.
This is especially true during “indirect attack” when Firefighters are constructing
line with large stands of fuel between them and the fire.
In over 30 years of being an Aerial Firefighter I have seen many things. I have seen
Firefighters saved by air support and I have seen Firefighters both on the ground
and in the air die on a fire. All firefighting contains elements of danger. Every effort
is made to mitigate that danger but it is the unexpected that turns a routine event
into life threatening situation.
It is a fact that Air Tankers and Fire Fighting Helicopters have rescued Firefighters
on the ground many times over the years. It is also a fact that the effective use of
Aerial firefighting assets in building and supporting line has undoubtedly stopped
critical situations from developing in the first place.
Jim Barnes