FIREHOUSE: PCADS, A Military Solution to Wildland Firefighting

MIKE ARCHER DECEMBER 24, 2010

An aerial firefighting crisis exists in the U.S. Nearly four dozen heavy air-tankers could be called upon to assist firefighters roping in past wildfires. But even as wildfires have increased in size and ferocity, air-tanker numbers have dwindled to a shadow of their former strength. Fire agencies have tried to fill the gap with helicopters and Single Engine Air-Tankers (SEATs), but the speed and retardant capacity of the heavy, fixed-wing air-tankers is sorely missed. Is there any way to increase the firefighting capacity of U.S.

MIKE ARCHER is an author, wildfire consultant, systems engineer, and public speaker who has been interviewed by CBS News, KABC-TV, USA Today, and the Associated Press on wildfire topics, and has been part of a delegation testifying before government bodies (including Congress and the California Senate) on fire-related issues. He runs the Wildfire News of the Day blog and Firebomber Publications.