Infinite MonkeysThe Santa Ana winds have stymied firefighters' efforts to knock down the flames throughout Southern California today. But the tide is turning. The Press-Enterprise reports that Tanker 910, a modified DC-10 fire tanker, dropped one load of fire retardant on the Lake Arrowhead fire this afternoon. The supertanker, which flies out of Victorville, can drop 12,000 gallons of water or retardant in a single run. The standard C-130s and P-3s drop between 3,000 and 7,000 gallons at a time.
Unfortunately, there is only one DC-10 for all of California. And it is expensive to fly. But what the plane can do is most impressive.
Correction (Tuesday, 10:26 a.m.): According to Rim of the World, Tanker 910 made three drops on the Grass Fire yesterday, not one.
Posted by Ben at October 22, 2007 05:45 PMGreat video of an Arrowhead drop is here.
Posted by: Monkey David at October 22, 2007 06:27 PMIf I read the story right, that was the only DC-10 drop on Arrowhead today.
Posted by: Ben at October 22, 2007 07:08 PM