The unprecedented death and destruction that wildfires have brought to California the last two years have demonstrated the sharp limitations aircraft have when battling extreme fire behavior.
The flames erupted just after sunrise on a high canyon wall, far beyond the reach of earthbound firefighters.As powerful winds sent embers rocketing through the Sierra Nevada foothills, and closer to the towns of Magalia, Concow and Paradise, fire crews radioed anxiously for aircraft.But it would take nearly two hours for the first water-dropping helicopter to arrive, and roughly six hours for the first air tankers to drop retardant on the fire, because of dangerously strong winds.
For residents living in wildfire country, the sight of airplanes spewing clouds of pink retardant and helicopters dumping torrents of water onto flames can bring hope and reassurance —. Similarly, the absence of aircraft from a wildfire will quickly inspire public criticism and outrage. The shortcomings of aircraft battling a massive wind-driven wildfire were painfully apparent in the early hours of the Camp fire.
Pilot Dave Kelly had heard radio reports of the fire and decided to leave for work early. He was alone in his S2-T tanker when he took off at 7:44 a.m. that Thursday morning. A larger OV-10 Bronco air attack plane that orbits at a higher elevation, so as to supervise and coordinate other firefighting aircraft, was two minutes behind him.
He banked his airplane to the right and made a loop. He then headed to the fire’s western edge but found it was too turbulent to drop retardant. He then banked left and made a full loop until he was headed east, toward the fire’s other flank. Kelly returned to the air base at 8:29 a.m., without dropping any retardant on the fire. The air attack supervisor orbiting above announced that all fixed-wing aircraft were grounded until further notice because of the conditions. Only helicopters, which can function in higher winds, managed to operate during the fire and dropped water on evacuation routes to help residents escape.
“It’s often symbolic. That’s not a damning thing, that’s a fact. You can’t watch 19,000 structures burn. You have to throw everything at it you can find,” Carroll said. “You got to take your engine, your aircraft, knowing all the time it’s not going to have any effect.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Formal and casual White House photos show distance between Trump and increasingly diverse nationIn picture after picture, emanating from the most exclusive corridors of American political power, Trump is seen with a team of aides and advisers that is almost exclusively white.
Read more »
Formal and casual White House photos show distance between Trump and increasingly diverse nationIn picture after picture, from the most exclusive corridors of American political power, Trump is seen with a team of aides and advisers that is almost exclusively white. The photos show the distance between Trump and an increasingly diverse nation.
Read more »
Opinion | Mitch McConnell is making the Senate’s minority party increasingly powerlessIn extending the “nuclear option” for presidential nominations, the majority leader continues an assault on key principles of the “world’s greatest deliberative body.”
Read more »
Analysis | The increasingly suspicious pattern behind Trump’s nomineesTrump is not a man in a hurry to fill many government vacancies. So why did he reportedly ask the Senate to fast-track his IRS commissioner pick? There's a very logical and suspicious explanation.
Read more »
Iran expands evacuations as rains worsen floodsAt least 70 people have been killed and about 1,900 cities and villages have been affected by floods after exceptionally heavy rains since March 19.
Read more »
Iran expands evacuations as rains worsen floodsIran moved on Saturday to evacuate more towns and villages threatened by floods ...
Read more »
How delayed justice after hate crimes in India worsens religious divisionsVictims and their families say that the release of suspects on bail contributes to a climate of fear.
Read more »
Investigators have not identified any damage to aircraft sensors in relation to crash'We can confirm that we haven’t found any foreign object damage.' Investigators have not identified any damage to the crashed Ethiopian Airlines plane's sensors that could have contributed to the March 10 crash:
Read more »