STATEWIDE As optimists will attest, there’s always a silver lining, even in the case of the Griffith Park fire that has charred more than 817 acres.
Just one day after the blaze erupted in the Hollywood Hills on Tuesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced an executive order that promises to find funding to keep the costly DC-10 Supertanker, also known as the Tanker 910, fighting fires.
The news was welcomed with open arms by public safety advocates who for the past year have campaigned tirelessly to save the firefighting aircraft, considered a key asset in the containment of fires while in its early stages.
In just one trip, the Tanker 910 has the capacity to drop 12,000 gallons of flame retardant around the perimeter of the fire, creating a barrier known as the “building line” that would prevent the blaze from proceeding past that point. It’s capacity is the largest in the United States.
“I literally almost dropped the phone because we’ve been working on this for a year,” said Tony Morris, founder of Wildfire Research Network, a Topanga Canyon-based research organization.
Executive Order S-07-07 directs Cal Fire, formerly known as the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, to deploy additional resources and personnel to combat wildfires in the state.
Cal Fire would assign additional fire inspectors in fire prone areas to help reduce risk, create more fire lookouts as well as provide immediate availability of the super-tanker under the executive order.
The Executive Order was good news for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which sent two fire hawk helicopters and one Bell 412 chopper to assist LA City Fire. The fire hawk is the only helicopter in the area that can carry 1,000 gallons of water.
“It’s really going to help us out,” said Anthony Marrone, chief of air operations for Los Angeles County Fire.
“It’s a real great device to use on fires.” — said Mike Jarvis, the Cal Fire deputy director of communications
“We’re just trying to make it work for us and for them,”
The state of California contracted use of the Tanker 910 on an as-needed basis last year, dishing roughly $26,500 an hour for use. Developed by 10 Tanker Air Carrier over a period of four years, the Tanker 910 is a former American Airlines passenger jet turned firefight-ing superpower that made its debut last year.
The supertanker was used a total of 26 times last year in California and Washington on nine different fires. The aircraft was not called for the Griffith Park fire, said Rick Hatton, managing partner of 10 Tanker Air Carrier.
Seeking to build its business, 10 Tanker Air Carrier was only seeking seasonal contracts with state agencies, bringing in more revenue to the company and allowing its engineers to build more supertankers. However a seasonal contract is more costly and state officials were not sure of the viability of having such a high priced line item in the state budget.
With only one supertanker available, 10 Tanker Air Carrier hopes to ultimately create a small fleet of about six of the Tanker 910s.
The state will most likely sign a three-year contract keeping the supertanker available exclusively to California from mid- June to mid-September,typically known as the fire season.With low total rainfall this year, the availability could be extended.
The terms of the contract are currently being negotiated and could be finalized as early as next week.
After its life as a passenger jetliner for American Airlines, the supertanker spent another few years as a charter plane with Omni Air International before it was picked up by 10 Tanker Air Carrier.
Based in Victorville, the Tanker 910 can be called to a fire anywhere in the state within an hour and a half.
“We’re going to be available exclusively to the state with crews and equipment ready to go on short notice every morning of the season,” Hatton said. “If they call us that day, we’ll be airborne in a timely fashion.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 11, 2007. Read the original PDF.