As I have been telling you, fire season opens tomorrow in Southern Oregon. There is going to be a BIG change to the fire fighting air fleet. In the past there was usually one DC 7 air tanker here on exclusive use by the Oregon Department of Forestry. Other air tankers would come through as needed to assist on ODF fires, or would come in to fight fires on federal lands. But this year is going to see a staffing level of aircraft we have not even seen for Medford before, and types of aircraft we have not ever seen. The biggest news here is the dawning of the jet air tanker age in Medford. Yes, jet air tankers from Neptune Aviation in Montana were here last year to help fight fires here. Look for that to be augmented this year with Erickson Aeros MD 87s certified and ready to fly. These former passenger jets, (which are the exact same jets that Allegiant Air flies in and out of Medford), can carry up to 4000 gallons of retardant at a time. It was also announced last winter that if the fire season became very severe here, a modular retardant reload system with a high capacity output would be brought in and placed at the airport over at the ICE offices. This will be done to load the largest air tankers in the US fleet, the DC 10s and the next generation C 130s. The ramp there is reinforced to hold the weight of fully loaded DC 10s, and the new C 130 air tanker flown by Coulson Aviation. This will give the VLATS as they are known a reload base west of the Cascades. This was something that they did not have last year and it looks to be needed this year. Another MAJOR change is that for the first time EVER Erickson Helicopter, (NOT related to Erickson Aero Aviation, except that both companies were founded by Jack Erickson), has been awarded a LOCAL contract. An Erickson Air Crane Helicopter Tanker will be on exclusive use for the Forest Service based here. For many years people have wondered why Erickson Air Cranes were not used to fight local fires while they were still smaller in size. The reason was no contract for service for this area. Another new type of aircraft to fight fires and to do recon after lightning storms will be single engine air tankers. SEATS as they are known closely resemble crop dusters that once filled the skies over the Rogue Valley. SEATS can hold up to 800 gallons of retardant. There will be at least 2 based here in Medford. This is going to be very interesting to see how effective the SEATS will be here west of the Cascades. East of the Cascades they have been very effective in battling the fires there that are typically burning on grasslands with some juniper trees thrown in. SEATS have not previously been used here due to the fact that they carry smaller loads and it was thought would have tough time penetrating the heavy forest canopies. But, we do have grassy savannahs here in Southern Oregon, and previous burn areas. SEATs will be effective there. And, SEATs can work very well in our tight terrain where the jets may be unable to work. It is going to be a very interesting and exciting summer out at the airport with a wide variety of fire fighting aircraft coming in and out.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 01:39:15 +0000
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