Medford Air Tanker Base Ready to Support Firefighters on the Ground

Entrance to the Medford Air Tanker Base

           This has been another busy year for the Medford Air Tanker Base (ATB). As of August 13, they have flown 1,037,895 gallons of retardant to fires. Smoke conditions cleared enough this past Thursday for four fixed wing aircraft to assist on the Miles, Columbus, Snowshoe and Roundtop Fires. Fixed wing resources are one “tool” that can be used for fires, however they are used when they can be most effective. In areas of heavy timber, fire retardant drops are not able to reach the forest floor due to the thickness of the tree canopy and will deposit in the trees. This will allow a fire to travel underneath the trees and spread beyond the retardant line. Retardant drops are often used to reinforce fire lines that have already been cleared of heavy timber, to aid in structure protection, and slow the spread of the fire.

A Convair tanker awaits to be dispatched.

                                                               

Air tankers that were available to assist at the Medford ATB were:

• ·         The Convair tanker carries 2,000 gallons of retardant per plane and have excellent maneuverability with steep descent capability for exceptional performance in mountainous terrain.
• ·         The RJ85 tanker carries 3,000 gallons of retardant. This plane is capable of faster turn-around times to fires.
• ·         The DC10 aircraft resembles a commercial airliner. This plane was repurposed from being a passenger aircraft to an airtanker that has the capacity to carry up to 9,400 gallons of retardant. It has three separate tanks.  

Retardant fill hoses are staged for the incoming tankers.

           Medford ATB is approved to “hot load” an aircraft which allows them to fill the aircraft with retardant while their outboard engines continue running. This makes the turn-around time for planes much faster when they are on a load and return order for a fire. The staff, pilots, and planes at the tanker base are ready to fly at a moments notice. The planes are always full of fuel and retardant so when they are dispatched, they are ready to fire up the engines and go.