Firefighting aircraft have been unleashing tens of thousands of gallons of water and bright-pink fire retardant on the wildfires ripping through Los Angeles over the past week.
These aircraft have long been vital against wildfires. They help contain the perimeters of blazes and can attack rugged terrain inaccessible to firefighters on the ground. With more than 60 planes and helicopters, California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire, says it has the largest fleet of aerial firefighting equipment of any civilian agency in the world.
Two planes important to aerial firefighting missions are air tankers, which carry and drop the fire retardant, and the lead plane, a smaller, more nimble aircraft that flies ahead.
The lead plane maps out the route and instructs the air tanker where to make the drop, said Jordan Mattiacci, a pilot who flies aircraft that play a similar role in Australia. In the past few weeks, he has been out battling a monstrous blaze in the mountain ranges in the state of Victoria that local officials said burned over 187,800 acres of national park and farmland. Areas that could be targeted include along the fire’s edge to help stop its spread, or on homes farther away to protect them, he said.
Depending on the situation, Mr. Mattiaci said, he might do a demonstration flight to show the tanker the route to take. The lead plane is also responsible for making sure the air tanker has a safe path out, he said.
“When we’re certain they’ve got the picture of where we want it, they will drop,” he said, adding that the air tanker pilot is in charge of calculating how winds will affect how the retardant falls.
Piloting a firefighting aircraft is sweaty, tiring work, Mr. Mattiacci said. The conditions that increase fire risk — hot days, high wind, often mountainous areas — also make for turbulent flying conditions. The aircraft fly at low speeds, increasing the turbulence, he added.
“You get pulled up our of your seat and your head bangs against the roof,” he said. In the hot conditions, pilots must keep just hydrated enough not to have to use the bathroom, on flights that can last up to five hours, he said.
There’s also a risk of flying into the thick, blinding smoke that wildfires send up, he said. The aircraft flying low to the ground — sometimes as low as the height of treetops — meaning there’s a significant risk of flying into power lines, radio towers and buildings.
“When we lose all visual reference, it gets a bit scary,” he said.
The stronger the winds, the harder it is to get close to the fire, as winds push the smoke around and obstruct visibility.
The large air tankers in Australia drop retardant from an altitude of about 100 to 150 feet, he said, while smaller ones can fly even lower. The largest tankers — which can carry up to 9,400 gallons of fire retardant at a time, and have been used to fight the Southern California fires — drop from about 250 feet, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Mr. Mattiacci said that he often feels pressure as he looks down from the cockpit at homes and structures under threat, knowing his job is to help save them. And if the fire retardant doesn’t land where it’s needed, he added, during a fast-moving fire, “there might not be another chance.”
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