Firefighting aircraft in California

[David Ramsay]

This from www.inciweb.org with regard to the "Station Fire" in the hills outside of Los Angeles

Aircraft on The Station Fire
Incident: Station Fire Wildfire
Released: 6 hrs. ago

The sound of an air tanker or helicopter over a wildfiire is a welcome sound to people working the fire incident on the ground. From carrying water or retardant to shuttling crews to the fire line, hundreds of hours of flight time may be recorded on large wildfire incidents. There are a variety of aviation resources available to this fire, including our typical helicopters and conventional airtankers. These aircraft have dropped 1.5 million gallons of retardant and 2.5 million gallons of water.

The helicopters are being used for a variety of Logistical and Operational type missions. Logistical missions including: moving equipment and firefighters to remote locations on the fire. Operational missions include providing water dropping support to ground fire fighters and structure protection. The conventional airtankers are dropping fire retardant in direct support of personnel and equipment constructing fire line, and structure protection as well as indirect line construction for perimeter control. In addition to these resources we also have available an unprecedented number of additional aviation resource that can be deployed. These include the DC-10 and 747 aircraft that have a capacity of 12,000 gallons and 20,000 gallons respectively. We also have the Martin Mars and 2 Canadair 415 water scooping aircraft available with a 7,200 gallon and 1,600 gallon capacity respectively.

All of these aircraft serve a purpose in different situations and conditions and we try to deploy them where they can do the best job in the safest manner. It is important to remember that all of these aircraft are support tools for the ground firefighter and do not "put out" the fire by themselves. Drops need to be followed up by ground crews and more importantly they may be totally ineffective due to high fire intensity or long range spotting of the fire. Visibility is also a very critical factor for aircraft as they need to have sufficient forward visibility in order to get in and fly safely. Fixed-wing aircraft will require increased visibility requirements then helicopters due to their higher airspeed and their inability to stop and hover.

About the Martin Mars Flying Tanker:

Permanently based on Vancouver Island, British Columbia Canada, the Martin Mars, Hawaii, is now stationed at Cachuma Lake in support of aerial operations on the La Brea Fire

It was originally intended for the U.S. Navy as a bomber for long-range missions. It was redesigned for general transport.

The Navy took delivery of five of the flying boats between 1945 and 1947. Only two remain today. Stationed at NAS Alameda, the Mars carried troops and equipment between California and Hawaii.

Flying Tankers, Inc. bought the planes when the Navy retired them, and converted them to water tankers. Coulson Aircrane, Ltd. (Coulson Flying Tankers) now owns and operates the company.

The Martin Mars provides an additional firefighting tool in wildland fires. Because of the large amount of water it drops and the area it covers, it is most effective in open areas, away from housing.

About the Martin Mars:

Name: Hawaii Mars

4 person flight crew

4 Wright Cyclone R3350-24WA engines @ 2500 h.p. each

4-blade propellers with a blade diameter of 15 ft. 2 in.

Overall Length: 120 ft. (Compare to: Boeing 737 at 137 feet)

Wing Span: 200 ft. (Compare to: Boeing 747 wingspan at 195 feet)

Wing area: 3,686 square feet

Height: 48 ft.

Gross Weight: 162,000 lbs.

Water/Foam Load: 7,200 US gallons (60,000 lbs.)

Carries water and suppressant (polymer with freshwater or foam with sea water)

22 Water doors (covering an area the size of four football fields with water or foam)

Cruising Speed to Fire: 190 mph

Drop Speed: 138 mph

About the S64-Skycrane

The Skycrane has a payload of 2,650 gallons with a cruising speed of 91 knots.
It is an American twin-engine heavy-lift helicopter.

It is the civil version of the United States Army's CH-54 Tarhe.

The S-64 Aircrane is the current production version, manufactured by the Erickson Air-Crane company.

The Sikorksy S-64 was designed as an enlarged version of the prototype flying crane helicopter, the Sikorsky S-60.

The S-64 had a six-blade main rotor and was powered by two 4,050 shp (3020kW) JFTD-12A turboshaft engines.

The prototype S-64 first flew on May 9, 1962 and was followed by two further examples for evaluation by the German armed forces.

The Germans did not place an order, but the United States Army placed an initial order for six S-64A helicopters (with the designation YCH-54A Tarhe).

Seven S-64E variants were built by Sikorsky for the civil market.

Photo of Martin Mars tanker