Search Articles:

 

Breaking News......... Wife, infant daughter of Butte Marine killed in car crash while he's at basic training......... Montana F-15s duel Iowa F-16s in training exercises above Montana towns......... MISSOULA MARATHON 2009: Today's the day to pick up race packets!......... Wildfire season off to a cool, wet, slow start in the West......... Local News......... Schweitzer: ‘Damn right I'm mad' at GM........Three council members file suit against city........Fishing limits dropped on 6 backcountry lakes........Baucus: Health care plan will be produced before end of August........Fighting fire with fire on Blue Mountain: Strategy designed to keep smoke from billowing into Missoula during the summer........Jury acquits ex-Griz Wilson in second murder trial........

SUMMARY: New Mexico's already been burned by bad decision; our time's coming.

Well, it didn't take long to demonstrate the folly of the Forest Service's decision this month to fight wildfires without all the right tools.

In southern New Mexico, the Captain fire is burning more than 23,000 acres and has sent dozens of homeowners fleeing. "I was shocked to be told this fire could have been held to a single acre if the heavy air tankers had been available at the beginning," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.

But, of course, air tankers weren't available at the beginning. And it doesn't look as though they're going to be available at the beginning of the next fire, or the ones after that. The Forest Service terminated all its contracts for 33 of the big planes earlier this month, citing safety concerns springing from the crash of two Wyoming-based tankers two years ago. Aerial tankers typically play an important role in firefighting. Their ability to deliver large quantities of fire-retardant slurry to even the most remote fires have proved effective in stopping many small fires before they can grow into larger fires, and they also can help knock down advancing fires so ground crews can work more effectively.

Grounding the nation's squadron of aerial tankers was an ill-considered overreaction to a National Transportation Safety Board report concluding that improvements in Forest Service standards imposed after two 2002 crashes still don't ensure the airworthiness of the aging, privately owned aircraft. The decision seems to have far more to do with limiting Forest Service exposure to possible lawsuits than with ensuring safety. Whatever reduction of risk gained by grounding the tankers surely will be offset by increased danger to firefighters and people living in the path of wildfires.

There is no evidence that the tanker aircraft that have been grounded are anything but safe. What we already have is a fire raging out of control in New Mexico that might have been stopped in its tracks with the use of large tankers. Something tells us this summer will produce many such examples.

A lot of people are up in arms over this matter. Governors and congressional delegations from throughout the West are demanding restoration of tanker use. We can only hope that the solution comes soon, before the tanker contractors go out of business and their crews find new jobs. Before the fire season starts in this neck of the woods would be good, too.

---

---

Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)

---