A busy day at Reno Stead

The Great Basin Coordination Center distributed this photo on Twitter Monday at 6:50 p.m., saying “Busy day at Stead”.

I counted nine air tankers:

  • Four Neptune BAe-146’s
  • One Erickson Aero Tanker MD-87
  • One SEAT
  • One Aero-Flite RJ 85
  • Two Aero-Flite CL-415’s

I’m not sure what fires they are working on but the 83,000-acre Long Valley Fire is 16 miles north of the airport and there are several others 140 to 230 miles to the northeast but Battle Mountain tanker base is closer to those.

Below, a DC-10 drops on the Long Valley Fire.