California hires Australian crew to help with air attacks this fire season
SACRAMENTO — From down under to flying high above wildfires, an Australian aircrew has been hired by California to help in fire attacks this year.
Australian pilot Tony Franc took us into the cockpit of the Boeing 737 air tanker. The air tanker can release massive amounts of fire retardant on wildfires below.
California has a memorandum of understanding with Australia's New South Wales state government. The agreement allows the air tanker to be in California during fire season.
"The governments around the world are contracting aircraft to help with that resource and the equipment is getting larger as well because the fires are getting larger," Franc said.
This week's fire weather has the California Office of Emergency Services (OES) activating its operation center for what they are calling an "Extreme Temperature Response Plan—Phase 2."
That automatically triggers:
- daily briefs between the OES and the Governor's Office.
- the activation cooling centers.
- developing staffing patterns.
- tracking mortality data related to heat.
The extra staffing means more resources for local fire agencies.
The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District will have all three of its water-dropping helicopters available this week with the state paying the tab.
"So, region-wide, all of our staffing for the local four fire agencies is at 100 percent," Metro Fire Battalion Chief Parker Wilbourn said. "These are resources that are above and beyond that."
It's an all-out effort to keep California safe during a week of soaring temperatures that has firefighters taking flight too.