Aerial Firefighting Ops

The summer of 2024 in New Mexico saw record wildfires in the mountains along my routes. The fire bases were full of tankers, fire bosses, air attack, and single seat air tractors. My outstation those days had a firebase on the airfield, so I was watching the Coulson, Neptune, and Conair tankers constantly on the prowl with their support.

As we all know, I love to go up and look at planes up close. When I was based at the field with the firebase, the Turbo Air Commanders always caught my eyes. One day I was peeking into the flight deck when the door was open and up walked the Coulson C130 captain, Gary.

When you first meet Gary, you can’t help but think, “is this guy really the captain on a fire tanker?” He was nothing like your typical airline pilot, covered in tattoos and piercings, torn jeans, he completely fit the vibe of the firefighters.

He promptly introduced himself, a gentleman through and through, and invited me to come check out the C130.

As we walked to his beast and I was gob smacked at the size.

I wish I got a photo of me next to the cargo door entrance. Even though the C130 isn’t the largest plane, her name isn’t the Hercules for nothing.

Our first stop was straight into the flight deck.

Climbing into the right seat of a four engine machine already could make your palms sweat, but add in the fact it was over 100°F and the huge flight deck felt very confined. With my limited time at this point in my job in the six pack, reading these gauges seems like a hostage negotiation.

As we walked to the back of the plane, where the loadmaster was at work replenishing the goods, we walked into the tanker operations.

After Gary gave me a tour of his big bird, he invited me to join the crew for BBQ lunch the next day. Of course I accepted.

The following day I met everyone. They were a diverse crew with various backgrounds however many had a similarity; they flew freight.

Sitting around the homecooked BBQ, they taught me how they all work together to combat fire from the sky.

You have your Air Attack crew. These guys and gals consist of a pilot and the forest service professional. From what I understand, it’s generally a single pilot position. The pilot conducts the flight while the forest service professional was the eyes and organization of the crews. They orbit the fire area on top, communicating with ground crew and the planes in the zone.

You then have your lead planes. Your lead planes are typically forest service contractors. The lead pilots I met were seasoned and calm veterans, they honestly reminded me of surfers. They do just as it sounds, lead the tankers into the dense airspace to mark the drop zones with their iconic white smoke.

Climbing into the flight deck of my first King Air solidified that I want to fly her next. They showed me where you fill up the smoke and the button on the yoke which disperses the smoke into the sky, marking the drop zone for the tanker.

When I sat around with all the teams over that lunch, there was a common denominator; most of them came from the freight world.

One of the pilots I met was the captain on Neptune’s BAE, an airplane I was not familiar with. Not often you see four turbofans, let alone on a high wing aircraft. It makes sense though, high wing aircraft are superior for low altitude flying.

The tank in the BAE reminded me of my water bottle Hydroflask, covered in stickers from places I’ve been.

The BAE flight deck was a lot more cramped, it reminded me of climbing into a large and more complex PC-12.

It was really amazing, how all these characters came from different worlds but all worked together for the greater good. Though they all have different companies, there’s a sense of camaraderie that isn’t present in most industries. It was really great to see.

As we enter towards another firefighting season, reflecting on these guys and the services they provide to the communities affected by wild fires, their job is full of risk, but reward outweighs the risk. May God bless them and keep them safe.