Local fire tanker heads 'Down Under'

  • Published
  • By Ryan Stark
  • Nucleus writer
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  An air fire tanker company based at the Kirtland/Sunport airfield has deployed one of its planes to Australia to fight fires.

10 Tanker Air Carrier's "910" jumbo DC-10 began service from a Royal Australian Air Force base in Richmond, New South Wales, Oct. 1, according to the company's president, Rick Hatton. As Australia begins the spring season, he said authorities there are predicting severe fire conditions.

"They have seen the accomplishments of our DC-10s in the U.S. in recent seasons and have determined that our unique capabilities will offer additional defenses against potentially devastating fires," he said.

The DC-10 jumbo jets that 10 Tanker operates were converted from commercial passenger use to fire tanker use with the addition of a tank that can carry 120,000 pounds -- or 11,600 gallons -- of fire retardant or other firefighting payload. The company has three aircraft.

Aside from carrying a payload more than four times the amount carried by smaller firefighting tanker aircraft, the DC-10's three jet engines can bring the plane in for deployment and operations faster than other tankers. And larger payloads necessitate fewer flights, increasing the flight safety margin and providing a large operational cost savings in being able to do more
on a single flight.

Hatton said the company had the opportunity to demonstrate the airplane's capabilities with a demonstration drop on a site used for the 2000 Summer Olympics.

"We dropped a full load of water on a water park," he said. "The drop covered the length of the waterway and was very impressive to the officials and the media, including Australia's top defense official."

Hatton said working in Australia would have similarities to working in the American West.

"It's virtually identical," he said. "We have the same terrain and a similar need for dropping on or near where fire and urban areas interface."

One challenge, he said, would be the logistics of expediting the shipment of aircraft parts from Albuquerque to Australia, although they tried to minimize that by sending as many spare parts as they could with the plane. The company also chose to honor female firefighters in Australia by re-christening their plane "Southern Belle."

Hatton said the company is continuing to serve the U.S. Forest Service and the State of California.
 
For more about 10 Tanker Air Carrier, visit its website at www.10tanker.com.