This year the PB4Y-2's didn't return, and neither did the C-130A's. One C-130A has been approved and is in France on a contract doing fire (125 hours in the past 17 days), but none in this country.
That has left (I believe) 33 heavy tankers, which include DC-4's, DC-6, DC-7, P2V-5, P2V-7, SP2H, and P-3A aircraft in the federal inventory. Additionally, a number of Type IV tankers, also known as SEATs (Single Engine Air Tankers) are in service. These include Air Tractor AT-802F's, Thrush S2R's, and PZL M-18 Dromaders in piston and turbine configurations. Additional resources include a wide variety of helicopters, and support aircraft.
Air attack aircraft are employed actively in fire patrol, aerial support reconaissance, IR surveillance, photography, etc. These are aircraft such as Twin Commanders, Barons, etc. Various agencies also employ aircraft in these roles, including Barons, 0-2's, OV-10's, King-air's etc.
The USFS and BLM provide Leadplanes and Air Supervision Modules (ASM's) in the form of Barons and King-air's. A number of these were retired this year as they've reached their airframe life over the fire. Suitable replacements are being sought. Some smoke jump ships were retired this year.
California Department of Forestry (CDF) also operates the S-2 in piston and turbine configurations, with the fleet now becoming all turbine.
This year the biggest change was an emphasis on strict use of tankers as only initial attack platforms, and use for protection of lives and property (structural). This implied that tanker ops would only be conducted in the initial fire stages, rather than fighting fire on an extended basis. This quickly became untennable, and I've been used for both initial attack and line building operations this year.
Fire operations continue as always, with a few changes. Heavy tankers are operating at reduced loadings presently, while Type IV's (SEATs) are still being required to carry out the "contract load." Pilot discretion is always given in mitigating these requirements; a pilot may always download as necessary, but never increase the loading.
I'm not aware of any PB2Y's or PB5Y's flying (catalinas or canso's) in the United States. As far as I know, the last one in service crashed in Southern California about six years ago while I was flying overhead, during a going fire.
In several areas Canadian CL215 and CL415 aircraft are also working, including canadian registered aircraft flying out of US bases, and state or government owned/leased aircraft.
A few changes have been instituted for national security reasons. Additional training and certification items have been made in the interest of safety, including the addition of a SEAT "flatrock university" (named after the fictitious training operation in the movie "always") on an annual basis. I expect to see more of such changes in the future.
Since 9/11 we have seen a slight increase in accidents as a result of primarily furloughed airline pilots trying to get a foot in the door. Many operators, and some insurance, won't touch pilots with an airline background, in this work, now. How that pans out remains to be seen.
My primarily contract this year has been in an area of largely desert, high desert, alpine, deciduous, and various urban interface. This year as drought conditions have continued to increase, we've seen a triple increase in the explosive value of most fuels in the district and general area, with typical burn values and flame lengths increasing by a factor of at least three. We've seen faster, hotter, and more explosive fires this year. For an inexplicable reason, we've also seen what appears to be an increase in arson.
I've been on a number of single tree initial attack dispatches this year in which we stopped it before it had a chance to go anywhere. Unfortunately, I've also been on some very violent and fast-moving fires that tapped out resources completely, and took homes and threatened lives.
As a result, I don't see any decrease in the demand for fire ops, or the use of aircraft on those operations.
