Things are just getting hotter in Texas, and Gov. Greg Abbott has declared a wildfire disaster with ongoing triple-digit temperatures in the forecast for the Brazos Valley — and the Texas A&M Forest Service (TAMFS) has stationed more airtankers in College Station.
Wes Moorehead, associate director and fire chief for the TAMFS, said the department uses numerous different aircraft to fight fire, but in College Station, they now have two new super scoopers.
“They are made to scoop off of open water lakes and then deposit that water onto an active fire scene,” Moorehead said. “Other aircraft, they will be loaded at the airport with retardant or water and then fly to the fire location and drop it. They’ll have to return to the airport and get reloaded.” In a report by KXXV, Moorhead said, “These in particular hold 1,400 gallons, which is a sizeable amount of water. Typically, a firetruck will hold around 500 gallons, so three times the amount of water a local fire truck can deliver.”
CBS Austin reported last week that TAMFS has brought in dozens of aircraft to work on nearly 3,000 fires across the state since the beginning of this year.
The Super Scooper is a specialized water-dropping airtnker, according to pilot Elic Kirby. “It’s just a giant, yellow beast,” he said. “It’s made to fight fire. It’s all it’s made to do, it’s all it does.” Kirby’s been flying scoopers for a couple years now, and says they’ve been flying Texas fires every day lately. His airtanker is one of about 30 aircraft brought on by TAMFS a couple weeks ago to fight fires — thousands of fires since the first of the year.
“Since January 1, we’ve actually seen 3,000 wildfires burn in the state of Texas,” said Moorehead. “These triple-digit temperatures are actually driving the moisture out of fields and driving the wildfire scene that we have in Texas right now.” He said airtankers are most helpful when aiding the crews who fight wildfires on the ground.
As Fire Aviation reported back in January, the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) of Jack Creek Investment Corp. collaborated with the long-time aerial firefighting delivery company, Bridger Aerospace Group Holdings, LLC (BAER/BAERW), moving onto Wall Street via the Nasdaq Global Market. Shares began trading on January 25 and dropped by a third on day three, with the company’s market capitalization at a robust $760.64 million.
Well first, the FireBoss is not nor ever will be as “equally capable” … in fact they are not even in the same league, but if you are as knowledgeable as you claim, you know this. I can’t figure out why people keep trying to compare the two. It’s comparing little league to the majors.
Secondly the FireBoss does not carry a full load of 800 gallons. They can hold that much but they never carry that amount. In fact in the temps they are working in, I doubt they are carrying half a load most of the time.
Interesting how much press Bridger gets when an Duck shows up (that’s what the used to call CL-215s and CL-415s, before they were “re-marketed” to Super Scoopers costing $34M each and providing 1,400 gallons). Being public has its pressures I guess. Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS) has been using scoopers for at least three or four years – the cheaper, just as effective ones called Fire Bosses that carry 800 gallons. Didn’t hear anyone from the TFS come out publicly when Fire Bosses showed up in state. Think they have a bunch there now and they were there long before the yellow ducks showed up. I’m guessing Texans are comfortable with their taxes paying 10x times as much for an aircraft that carries 1.7x times as much water….maybe if a candidate for Senate owned one of the Fire Boss operators, the TFS would make a big deal about it as well….hmmmm…don’t call me a CL-415 hater, I’m not, I think they’re great aircraft and AeroFlite and Bridger are solid companies. I just have to call out the odd promotion by the TFS to support two a/c showing up in state when they’ve been calling all types of aircraft in for a long time…as a Texas resident who knows that eventually we Texans will have to foot the bill for $60,000 per day and $18,000 per hour, per aircraft it costs us to have this a/c operate in state, it makes my conservative, libertarian hairs on the back of my neck just stand up on end when I know we could (and have) spent our money on other scoopers that are a fraction of the cost that give us so much more flexibility…..at the prices that a CL-415 costs, its almost like prospective Senator Sheehy is taking a chapter out of the democrats playbook in paying $3,000 for a $15 dollar toilet seat….hmmmm
HEY BUBBA,
We’re currently taking applications for an additional fire news writer, if you’d like to apply for the job.
This is not a joke. If you are any kind of fire-savvy with some writing experience and familiarity with both AP Style and wildire terminology, please let us know, because we need more than one writer here and you might have just the skills for the job.
Hey Kelly – if you’re serious, I might consider it…we need more well-informed voices out there…grateful for all you guys do at Fire Aviation….