Local Supertanker Flies To Save The Rainforest
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — As a massive fire continues to burn in the Amazon, an airplane that left from Sacramento is working to save the rainforest.
From its base at Sacramento's McClellan Field, The Global Supertanker can be anywhere in the country in four hours. Now it's taking on uncharted territory, in Bolivia.
The Global Supertanker is the only large tanker in this fight, in a place that's never seen fires this big.
We spoke with Dan Reese, retired Cal Fire Deputy Chief, and CEO of Global Supertanker Services.
"The world needs to remember, it's not typical for this region to have this much fire on the ground," Reese said.
Reese is currently at a command center in Bolivia where a several hundred thousand acre fires are burning all at once.
"We saw the Bolivians had a challenge for sure," Reese said.
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He and his 14-member crew arrived last week. Now, they're trying to help the Bolivian Government handle the fires burning across South America.
The tanker carries 19,000 gallons of water that can be dropped on the Amazon Rainforest.
"We are just one small tool, seeing how we fit in with the government and the way they fight fire here," he said.
His crew and the tanker helped fight major wildfires across California including the Camp Fire. They are still under contract with Cal Fire too. But, Reese says fires they're facing in the Amazon are unlike anything they've ever seen.
"Some of them are small, and many of them are tens of thousands of acres," he said.
As California enters wildfire season, CBS13 wanted to dig deeper into how this is used as a resource to protect you here, locally.
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We wanted to know, what happens if another massive wildfire breaks while the Global SuperTanker is away? Cal Fire said they fill that need with other aircraft.
"We consider it a tool in the toolbox," said Mike Mohler, Deputy Director with Cal Fire.
While they do use the Global SuperTanker to fight wildfires, it's not a fit every time, and if it's away, they're still ready.
"If we need additional aircraft, we plan days ahead of that, and we make sure we are staffed up to respond to these fires," he said.
Mohler also says Cal Fire will soon add its own fleet of large air tankers to battle wildfires.
"We are taking possession of seven C-130's to add to our fleet in 2021," he said.
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Cal Fire's new C-130 planes can carry 4,000 gallons of water. They got the planes, that were previously used by the military, through the National Defense Act.
Mohler says nothing is missing without the Global Supertanker, he says this massive machine is needed in the Amazon.
"We go where the fires are," said Reese.
In the meantime, Reese and the SuperTanker Crews will work to control the flames taking over the rain-forest.
"I'm just hoping for the best for the Bolivian people, and the whole South American region," Reese said.
The Global Supertanker will be in Bolivia for at least two weeks.