Staff writer
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| MIKE McLEAN/Press Eric Bradley, pilot for Forest Protection Ltd. out of the province of New Brunswick, Canada, describes the attributes of the AT-802 single-engine air tanker from the cockpit. Idaho Department of Lands is contracting with the province to base the planes at the Interagency Dispatch Center at the Coeur d'Alene Airport. |
Airplanes to support firefighting crews based in N. Idaho
COEUR d'ALENE -- North Idaho fire officials are looking to Canada to help fill the void left by the shortage of American air tankers.
Three new Air Tractor 802 single-engine air tankers will be based at the Interagency Dispatch Center at the Coeur d'Alene Airport, which won't have a large tanker this year.
"It's a different tool," said Bob Burke, fire and fuels program manager for Idaho Department of Lands. "It won't replace large tankers that hold 3,000 gallons or more."
In 2002, five people were killed when two large air tankers broke apart in midair while fighting separate forest fires. After that, 11 of the 44 large air tankers available nationwide were permanently grounded.
The U.S. Forest Service canceled contracts with the remaining 33 this year. As of early this week, eight of the big P-3 Orions were cleared for flying.
Large air tankers are best at dropping retardant on flat ridges. The agile AT-802s are better on tighter canyons.
Burke said the AT-802s will be used to hit fires hard at their initial stages to slow their growth until ground crews can get to them.
"It only takes one large fire to draw all of our resources," he said.
The sleek planes come from New Brunswick, Canada, via British Columbia, where they helped out with early July fires.
They are on loan from Forest Protection Ltd., a corporation owned by the Canadian government.
For pilot Eric Bradley, it will be the first time he has been stationed in the United States.
"It's an excellent exercise in cooperation," Bradley said. "It would be a shame if we couldn't share."
The Air Tractor 802s were built in Texas specifically for firefighting. The planes are less than a year old, coming to Coeur d'Alene with less than 100 hours of flight time.
"These are the biggest planes they make," Bradley said.
With the payload between the engine and the pilot, the sleek craft appears to have an extended nose. Bradley describes it as a "lawn dart" of a plane.
He said they are fun to fly.
"They are very maneuverable," Bradley said. "It's easier for pilots to handle and drop retardant at a lower altitude."
They are also accurate. If needed, pilots can split the load into increments as low as 200 gallons to drop in several passes or on multiple fires per flight.
The 65-day contract between Idaho Department of Lands and the province of New Brunswick is for $700,000 plus $600 per flight hour. It covers four pilots and two maintenance engineers.
The U.S. Forest Service is supplying the retardant. The agency of jurisdiction will pay the flight time for fire drops.
The Interagency Dispatch Center dispatches wildfire crews for IDL, Forest Service, Coeur d'Alene Tribe and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
"The top priority is the lowland forests near communities, followed by Idaho Panhandle National Forests," Burke said. "We will share them with Washington, Montana and British Columbia, but we will decide how far they can go."
Lands had a similar arrangement last year for two Air Tractor 802s from Evergreen Flying Service of Rayville, La.
The planes, based at Grangeville, flew 102 hours per aircraft. They were called up to Coeur d'Alene to help out on some North Idaho fires.
The flight costs were split about 60-40 between federal and state agencies.
"The state had a direct savings of $40,000 in retardant costs," Burke said.
This year, the department is basing two Evergreen Flying Service planes in Grangeville and two in McCall.
The McCall planes have been on loan to fight fires in Nevada.
The three Forest Protection Ltd. planes at the Coeur d'Alene Airport are half of the New Brunswick fleet of six planes.
"Our season goes through mid-September," Bradley said. "But it's very wet out there right now."
