As firefighters have battled wildfires across Montana this week, the U.S. Forest Service’s air tanker base at the Helena Regional Airport has played a central role.
This week, the base has already loaded about a dozen plans with fire retardant. It is one of only a few bases in the region that can handle all sizes of air tankers, from small single-engine planes to the so-called “Very Large Air Tankers” like the DC-10. On Thursday morning, it took just six minutes for crews to put 3,000 gallons of retardant onto an Avro RJ-85, which was sent to assist on the Robertson Draw Fire burning near Red Lodge.
Leaders say the tanker base doesn’t typically open until July 7. In light of the serious fire situation Montana has already seen, though, they have already ramped up to full operations. After fires started Sunday afternoon, planes were using the base by noon the next day.