A Tough Year for Air Tankers and Wildfires

It’s been a dramatic year for fires, and a tragic year for aerial firefighters. Three planes have crashed since June, with six dead, raising questions about whether the government should be using newer, more advanced craft—and whether they should be fighting fires from the air at all. The U.S. Forest Service spends about $2 billion a year preparing for and suppressing wildfires, and of that about $60 million goes to air tanker flights, says Tom Harbour, the Forest Service’s director of fire and aviation management. The air tanker fleet moves around the country following the fires, and they’ve had plenty of work this year. There have been more than 32,000 fires as of July 17, covering more than 3.6 million acres. And although there have been fewer individual fires reported than the 10-year average, more acreage has burned...more