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Klamath base has no tankers, many questions
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| Don Cavin, manager of the Klamath Falls Interagency Fire Center's tanker base stands in front of the tanks that hold retardant and water which is loaded into air tankers. |
Published June 6, 2004
By DYLAN DARLING
If fire rolls up KAGO Hill again this summer, massive air tankers will again be circling over Klamath Falls.
But if fire sparks on National Forest or U.S. Bureau of Land Management land, it is still unclear what kind of air support fire officials can call in.
"We are in the process of, throughout this region, figuring out who gets what," said Lisa Swinney, spokeswoman for the BLM's office in Lakeview. "Locally, we will be covered with some sort of air support."
In May, the federal government canceled contracts on 33 aging heavy air tankers, including the two that had been stationed at Kingsley Field last year.
The federal agencies cited the findings of the National Transportation Safety Board, which said the tankers faced safety and maintenance problems.
Since then politicians have lobbied to have the planes returned to the federal fleet, and Thursday officials announced that the government is giving companies a chance to prove their planes' airworthiness.
It should be about a month until decisions about the planes are made.
Meanwhile, some states, including Oregon, have signed contracts for some of the same planes that the federal government had basically grounded while federal agencies have awarded more than 100 contracts to more medium- and small-size tankers and large helicopters.
Now it's June. It's hot. And the Klamath Basin is just a lightning strike away from the start of fire season. All the changes in contracts have left officials at the Klamath Falls Interagency Fire Center waiting to hear what could be arriving and when.
"As far as right now, there is nothing sitting on the ramp," said Randall Bailey, dispatch coordinator.
Last year, the center moved into its new, $4.3 million digs on the east side of Kingsley Field.
The tanker base features three concrete pads that are big enough for a C-130 cargo plane and a retardant pumping system that can fill large tankers at a rate of 500 gallons a minute.
The retardant is a fertilizer, ammonia phosphate, that is mixed with water and red dye to make a liquid that cuts a fire line in the woods for pilots to see.
DC-7s, and other large tankers, hold about 3,000 gallons of retardant. Small tankers hold about 800 gallons.
"They are crop dusters, basically," said Don Cavin, tanker base manager at Kingsley Field.
If more small tankers come in, some changes will needed in the base's plumbing. The pumps push the retardant too fast for the smaller tanks to handle. Cavin said there could also be more helicopters.
"We are going to support something," Cavin said. "We just don't know what it is."
Over the last five years, the base has supported tankers on about 150 missions a year, he said.
Last year, Oregon had one heavy tanker under contract, but federal tankers would often be called in to drop retardant on fires on state land.
With the federal contracts canceled for now, state officials decided to get more of the tankers under contract.
Rod Nichols, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Forestry, said the state is going to have two DC-6s from Canada and two DC-7s from Redmond under contract this summer. He said the state signed the contracts for the planes, which are converted airliners, so they knew there would be some larger tankers available.
"We just need to make sure that they are there," Nichols said.
But, as things are now, the state-contracted planes wouldn't be dropping retardant on federally managed lands.
In canceling the contracts last month, the government also said:
Tankers working for the states will not be used on federal lands that are under federal protection. Some federal land, however, is under state protection, and the tankers could be used there.
Federal lead planes may not be used to guide state-contracted, unauthorized tankers over fires.
State contract aircraft can use federal tanker bases, such as the one at Kingsley Field.
Nichols said the DC-7s will be stationed in Redmond and their state contract starts July 1. The Canadian planes will be stationed in Medford starting Aug. 1.
But that doesn't mean the planes will be tethered to those bases - tankers go where they're needed.
"They will be going to where the fires are, including Klamath Falls, if that is the case," he said.
Cavin said the base is ready for the big tankers if they need to come in.
Large tankers are most effective when they can hit a fire quickly, said Joy Augustine, fire management officer for the Klamath Ranger District.
She said the planes can get to a fire fast and start putting down a fire line while ground crews work their way to it.
There will be medium-size tankers, which hold about 2,000 gallons, and large helicopters, which hold about 1,500 gallons, dropping water and retardant on federal land this summer, but they won't drop as much as fast as the large tankers do.
"It is going to be different this year," Augustine said.
Last summer, Klamath Falls residents got an up-close presentation of what effect a tanker can have on a fire when a cigarette-sparked fire burned a path from Riverside Drive, through Moore Park, toward the Lynnewood subdivision. Officials credit a fire line dropped by tankers with helping stop the fire's spread.
"It helped the KAGO fire big time," Bailey said.
On the Net:
www.nifc.gov
By DYLAN DARLING
If fire rolls up KAGO Hill again this summer, massive air tankers will again be circling over Klamath Falls.
But if fire sparks on National Forest or U.S. Bureau of Land Management land, it is still unclear what kind of air support fire officials can call in.
"We are in the process of, throughout this region, figuring out who gets what," said Lisa Swinney, spokeswoman for the BLM's office in Lakeview. "Locally, we will be covered with some sort of air support."
In May, the federal government canceled contracts on 33 aging heavy air tankers, including the two that had been stationed at Kingsley Field last year.
The federal agencies cited the findings of the National Transportation Safety Board, which said the tankers faced safety and maintenance problems.
Since then politicians have lobbied to have the planes returned to the federal fleet, and Thursday officials announced that the government is giving companies a chance to prove their planes' airworthiness.
It should be about a month until decisions about the planes are made.
Meanwhile, some states, including Oregon, have signed contracts for some of the same planes that the federal government had basically grounded while federal agencies have awarded more than 100 contracts to more medium- and small-size tankers and large helicopters.
Now it's June. It's hot. And the Klamath Basin is just a lightning strike away from the start of fire season. All the changes in contracts have left officials at the Klamath Falls Interagency Fire Center waiting to hear what could be arriving and when.
"As far as right now, there is nothing sitting on the ramp," said Randall Bailey, dispatch coordinator.
Last year, the center moved into its new, $4.3 million digs on the east side of Kingsley Field.
The tanker base features three concrete pads that are big enough for a C-130 cargo plane and a retardant pumping system that can fill large tankers at a rate of 500 gallons a minute.
The retardant is a fertilizer, ammonia phosphate, that is mixed with water and red dye to make a liquid that cuts a fire line in the woods for pilots to see.
DC-7s, and other large tankers, hold about 3,000 gallons of retardant. Small tankers hold about 800 gallons.
"They are crop dusters, basically," said Don Cavin, tanker base manager at Kingsley Field.
If more small tankers come in, some changes will needed in the base's plumbing. The pumps push the retardant too fast for the smaller tanks to handle. Cavin said there could also be more helicopters.
"We are going to support something," Cavin said. "We just don't know what it is."
Over the last five years, the base has supported tankers on about 150 missions a year, he said.
Last year, Oregon had one heavy tanker under contract, but federal tankers would often be called in to drop retardant on fires on state land.
With the federal contracts canceled for now, state officials decided to get more of the tankers under contract.
Rod Nichols, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Forestry, said the state is going to have two DC-6s from Canada and two DC-7s from Redmond under contract this summer. He said the state signed the contracts for the planes, which are converted airliners, so they knew there would be some larger tankers available.
"We just need to make sure that they are there," Nichols said.
But, as things are now, the state-contracted planes wouldn't be dropping retardant on federally managed lands.
In canceling the contracts last month, the government also said:
Nichols said the DC-7s will be stationed in Redmond and their state contract starts July 1. The Canadian planes will be stationed in Medford starting Aug. 1.
But that doesn't mean the planes will be tethered to those bases - tankers go where they're needed.
"They will be going to where the fires are, including Klamath Falls, if that is the case," he said.
Cavin said the base is ready for the big tankers if they need to come in.
Large tankers are most effective when they can hit a fire quickly, said Joy Augustine, fire management officer for the Klamath Ranger District.
She said the planes can get to a fire fast and start putting down a fire line while ground crews work their way to it.
There will be medium-size tankers, which hold about 2,000 gallons, and large helicopters, which hold about 1,500 gallons, dropping water and retardant on federal land this summer, but they won't drop as much as fast as the large tankers do.
"It is going to be different this year," Augustine said.
Last summer, Klamath Falls residents got an up-close presentation of what effect a tanker can have on a fire when a cigarette-sparked fire burned a path from Riverside Drive, through Moore Park, toward the Lynnewood subdivision. Officials credit a fire line dropped by tankers with helping stop the fire's spread.
"It helped the KAGO fire big time," Bailey said.
On the Net:
www.nifc.gov
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Ralph Sayre wrote on Jan 31, 2009 6:13 AM:
" I've just read an article (2005) titled "Discarded Soul at Peace."
I'm trying to complete a bio for an ancestor, VIRGIL ELROY SNOW, who was born in Roane County, West Virginia 2 December 1884. Last info I have was that at age 48, he was killed in Klamath Falls by a hit and run.
There is no indication that he fathered children. We were hopeful that there may have been a male child to carry on the SNOW name.
If anyone knows, please email me.
Thanks,
Ralph Sayre in WV "
I'm trying to complete a bio for an ancestor, VIRGIL ELROY SNOW, who was born in Roane County, West Virginia 2 December 1884. Last info I have was that at age 48, he was killed in Klamath Falls by a hit and run.
There is no indication that he fathered children. We were hopeful that there may have been a male child to carry on the SNOW name.
If anyone knows, please email me.
Thanks,
Ralph Sayre in WV "
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Ilene S wrote on May 21, 2009 9:36 AM: