Waging ground, air war on fires is Herculean effort

Tag : air boots


Fighting and winning the battle against a wildfire is much likefighting a war: It takes lots of boots on the ground and tacticalassaults from the air.

Maj. Bryan Allen is a commander in the air war against the numerouswildfires plaguing California, including the 9,443-acre Gap fireburning in the mountains above Santa Barbara and Goleta.

Swooping down to drop thousands of gallons of water or fireretardant on a wildfire "is one of the most dangerous things apilot is called upon to do," Allen, a Newbury Park native, said ashe sat Friday in a room at the California Air National Guard'sChannel Islands station near Point Mugu.

For nearly two weeks now, an average of eight large, lumberingC-130 Hercules have been stationed at the base, taking off to dropgooey, orange Phoschek retardant from huge nozzles onto the Gapblaze and other wildfires. The planes often fly lower than 200 feetthrough smoke-filled air over hilly terrain.

The Phoschek is mixed into a gummy broth near the runway at theChannel Islands base in an operation resembling a huge kitchen. Ablack-rubber bladder big enough to hold 10,000 gallons sits at theside of the runway. Next to it are pallets with 2,000-pound bags ofPhoschek, which consists of salt, gum and other substances. Theretardant also is a potent fertilizer, helping fire-damaged plantsto regenerate.

Ground crews mix the water with Phoschek, then load the concoctioninto a steel tank, where it is stored until ready to be loaded ontoa C-130 Hercules.

The mixing can be tricky, said Mark Shamblin, a city of Venturafire captain helping out at the base. Mix in too little water andthe Phoschek will not seep down into brush or trees. Mix in toomuch and the material can lose its potency.

Shamblin, Allen and others attended a morning briefing at the baseFriday for an update on the hundreds of wildfires burning acrossCalifornia.

"The focus right now is with what's going on up north," FrankDomingues, an official with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management,told the more than a dozen personnel at the briefing.

The most urgent priority Friday was a wildfire in Butte County nearParadise, Domingues said. That meant authorities likely wouldstation the C-130s and other aircraft in Northern California,including at McClellan Air Force Base outside Sacramento.

McClellan, along with the Channel Islands base, are the two majoroperation centers providing air support for the wildfires inCalifornia, Allen said.

Authorities must often decide on short notice where the C-130s andother aircraft are most needed, given the unpredictability of thefires, he said.

Heavy smoke and thick fog made it hard to fight the Butte Countyfire from the air on Friday, Domingues said. Fire officials alsodeclared the Basin Complex Fire around Big Sur a top priorityFriday. The Monterey County fire has grown to more than 90,000acres.

Closer to home, authorities continued to worry about the Piute firein Kern County, which had burned 34,852 acres as of Friday and wasonly 32 percent contained. It had also destroyed six homes.

Firefighters have had better luck battling the 11-day-old Gap firein Santa Barbara County, which was 75 percent contained. Whilenumerous outbuildings and vehicles have been lost, no homes havebeen destroyed.

As in war, the battle against a wildfire is ultimately won on theground, Allen said. Firefighters must not only build fire lines,they also must carefully inspect the ground, making sure all embersare extinguished.

But having support from the air "really helps," Allen said.

"I have no doubt that all of these wildfires would have been muchworse were it not for all the fire retardant dropped in and aroundthem," Allen said.