When at the beginning of this month thousands of residents of Los Angeles were threatened by forest fires that were out of control, the companies that combat infernos out of the air sent their air tankers and water bombers to the area. It should be low season.
The California Ministry of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) has more than 60 rigid wing and rotor wing fire extinguishing aircraft, which it describes it as the largest civilian fleet of its kind.
But the federal government, US states and countries from Australia to Chile to South Korea hire companies with their own private brisk planes specially equipped to help in the containment of fires.
“I was lucky enough to have two planes available to help fight the flames,” said Joel Kerley, CEO of 10 Tanker Air Carrier based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The company has a fleet of four converted DC-10 aircraft, so-called very large Air Tankers (Vlats).
A plane crashes, while smoke from the Palisades fire in the Mandeville Canyon in Los Angeles, California, USA, rises, January 11, 2025.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
The forest fire season in the USA usually lasts from April to about November, when ten tanker and similar companies have contracts with the US Forest Service, a federal authority. In 2023, the US Forest Service extended a 10-year contract worth up to $ 7.2 billion to $ 10 tankers and four other providers.
Outside of these months, the providers usually call for if necessary. And the demand for your services continues to increase all year round, these companies say.
According to the United Nations environmental program, forest fires are expected to become even more frequent and serious in the 21st century. The US environmental protection authority said that the data indicated that the area destroyed by forest fires in the USA has increased in the past two decades.
“There are not enough air tank planes,” said Kerley, the former aviation manager of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which belongs to the Ministry of the Interior.
Flowers and a car are covered with fire-retardant means when on January 11, 2025 in the Mandeville Canyon, a district of Los Angeles, California, USA, the Palisades fire, one of the simultaneous fire, which swept over Los Angeles County.
Ringo Chiu | Reuters
Some countries, such as Australia, which have been confronted with heavy forest fires in recent years, have built up their own fleets of fire -fighting aircraft. Kerley said that they would have to expand their fleets or have to become greater in order to meet the growing demand.
Kerley said that the fires in Palisades and Eaton were among the most difficult fires. Fired by hurricane winds, they destroyed entire districts such as Altadena and were among the worst that were ever available in California. They recalled firefighters, government officials and the public that fires can arise if you are least expected.
These two fires have destroyed more than 37,000 hectares and damaged or destroyed over 16,000 houses, buildings and other buildings, which makes it the most devastating forest fires ever in California. According to Cal Fire, at least 28 people were killed.
Kerley said that he asked his crew from pilots and mechanics days after the beginning of the new year, to travel to the fires, which he called the “Super Bowl” of fire fighting. Ten tanker aircraft have thrown out more than 273,000 gallons fire protection products from the fires in Eaton and Palisades.
Both fires were largely contained on Friday, but companies like that of Kerley were still on demand, as the Hughes fire quickly spread north of Los Angeles and triggered a new round of evacuation.
An air tanker throws fire -retardant means of the fire from Palisades, a simultaneous fires that are swept across Los Angeles County, seen by Woodland Hills, a district of Los Angeles, California, USA, January 11, 2025.
Ringo Chiu | Reuters
Since the devastating fires in Los Angeles broke out for forest fires in the region during the alleged low season, some of the tanker's ten aircraft were stuck in routine maintenance at the beginning of the battle. And he wasn't alone.
“We carry out extensive winter expectations on all of our aircraft,” said Sam Davis, CEO of the Belgrade, Montana, based company Bridger Aerospace, who has a fleet of Super Scoopers produced in Canada, which collect water as they fly over the water and throw it near fires. You can make several trips with a flight.
“It was an impetus to bring the first aircraft onto the market,” said Davis.
In November, Bridger reported record sales and profits for the third quarter and said: “The persistently dry weather in the western United States ensured that several planes were in operation until November.” $ 70 to $ 86 million up to $ 95 million.
The expansion of new aircraft fleets is neither easy nor fast.
Kevin McCullough, President of Aero Air, which also delivers air tank planes, sent some of his MD-87 to the fires in Los Angeles. He said it could take about a year and a half to convert a jet into a tanker for fire fighting.
“It's not that you just throw in a tank and do it,” he said. “They completely modify the plane and transform it into a fire bomber.”
McCullough said that the development of these jetters had been done privately, with the hope that there would eventually be government contracts for their services, but “there were never any guarantees.”
How to fight fires from the air
Specially trained pilots throw water or fire protection off the air to support the firefighters on the ground. The heavy, bright red fire protection is usually dropped before fire and blocks the flames.
“The challenge of applying water or protective agents is that if these fires break out, most of the time does not happen in a flat area and not on one these days with a blue sky and calm wind,” said Paul Petersen, Managing Director of United Aerial Fire brigade association.
Some of these pilots have a military background, while others change passenger airlines, said Kerley of 10 tankers. The age of fire pilots extends over decades. He has almost 30 employees.
Eight mechanics are assigned to the company's DC-10.
“It's a strange duck in terms of career,” said Kerley.
A great scooper plane throws on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, in Pacific Palisades, California, water on the fire in Palisades.
Brian van der Brug | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
There are also forces of nature that have to be struggled with: the violent Santa-Ana winds, which blew with hurricane strength in early January away.
The last DC-10 aircraft ran almost four decades ago from the McDonnell Douglas production line in the nearby Long Beach, California, but ten tanker aircraft were converted to transport 9,500 gallons of fire protection products and drop precisely.
On Thursday, January 9, 2025, a Super-Scooper-Wasserwerfer-Fehöschlüzen on Will Rogers State Beach in Los Angeles, California, USA, will fill up with water from the Pacific Ocean.
Jill Connelly | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Water blades, as used by Bridger Aerospace, are produced by the Canadian company de Havilland Aircraft and are also becoming increasingly popular. These special aircraft can draw 1,600 gallons from nearby waters.
And some governments reinforce their fleets by ordering the latest model of the aircraft that is in development.
The Calgary-based company de Havilland announced last August that it received orders from the European Union countries for the new generation of the aircraft, the DHC-515, which is expected to go into operation in 2028.
Earlier generations of the scoopers were built for the first time in the 1970s. The new generation of de Havilland plans to improve things like the cockpit air conditioning system for high temperatures, control of water drops and corrosion protection in order to avoid damage caused by salt water.
“In view of the age of aircraft and the effects of climate change, demand will simply increase,” said Neil Sweeney, Vice President of the company's business matters. “What was considered a low season no longer really exists.”
– Erin Black from CNBC contributed to this report.
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