Gale Norton STRIKES again!
Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2004 7:58 am
Once again, we're seeing the Federal Gov't and the Bush Admin. running our lives 
I FULLY agree that safety SHOULD be FIRST and FOREMOST on the minds of EVERYONE, lives are at stake here BUT.....what RIGHT does the Federal Gov't have to *dictate* how our homes are to be protected. Agreed, there have been 3 fatal crashes of Slurry bombers and 7 precious lives have been lost but in the same breath, how many small aircraft are lost on a daily/weekly bases and untold numbers of fatalities occur? I don't see the FEDS stopping PRIVATE planes from flying......it makes NO SENSE to me 
Just another way the FEDS are running our lives, might as well set fire to my home and move on 
http://www.azcentral.com
Tankers won't fly this fire season
advertisement
State, feds insist Arizona will be OK
Diana Balazs
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 22, 2004 12:00 AM
Despite pleas by Gov. Janet Napolitano and members of Arizona's congressional delegation, a fleet of firefighting air tankers will remain grounded for safety reasons, even as Arizona enters its most dangerous time of year for wildfires.
U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who visited the Valley on Monday, said that even without the large tankers there are sufficient resources available to fight wildland fires this summer in Arizona and throughout the drought-stricken West.
A new strategy has emerged in which smaller, more nimble aircraft can reload more quickly, closer to the fires, and target their drops more efficiently, Norton said.
Smaller craft have been used effectively to fight fires in Arizona this year.
And luckily, this summer has been relatively mild and free of the catastrophic forest fires that have tested the endurance of older firefighting tankers, three of which crashed in fatal accidents in recent years.
Temperatures have been about normal in Arizona and are expected to remain so for the coming week.
Jeanine L'Ecuyer, Napolitano's spokeswoman, said Arizona has the necessary resources to handle fires this year, but they are costing more because of the loss of the air tankers.
The governor agrees that safety is paramount, L'Ecuyer said. "The quarrel we have is not so much with the fact the planes were grounded, but the fact they were grounded with so very little notice."
Arizona has scrambled in recent weeks to contract for alternate aircraft, L'Ecuyer said.
More, smaller planes had to be secured and additional manpower hired to replace the tankers, she said.
The grounded air tankers can hold up to 3,000 gallons each.
Napolitano was particularly concerned about the timing of the grounding, which left little time to plan, L'Ecuyer said. Late June is when some of Arizona's biggest fires have erupted in recent years.
Big tankers grounded
In May, the U.S. Forest Service and Interior Department grounded 33 air tankers, some dating to World War II, by canceling contracts it had with private companies for use of the planes. The move followed a report by the National Transportation Safety Board that the aircrafts' safety and airworthiness could be not be ensured.
The safety board had investigated three air tanker crashes that occurred from 1994 to 2002 and killed seven people.
"We made the decision after the NTSB report came out that we needed to take all the old tankers off-line and focus on getting newer aircraft and safer aircraft to be able to fill in," Norton told the Editorial Board of The Arizona Republic.
"That has caused us now, for this year, to replace the 33 older air tankers with 139 newer aircraft. That includes helicopters. There's single-engine air tankers, small planes, as well as military aircraft," she said.
Although that means increased cost, the federal government is doubling its ability to deliver fire retardant and water to fires, Norton said.
The aircraft must be strategically placed to get to fires as fast as possible, she said. The old tankers could travel longer distances and carry more load, but the smaller aircraft can go to smaller airstrips and refuel more quickly, Norton said.
Future: Smaller aircraft
"We really are moving more toward a smaller and more nimble type of aircraft as opposed to the big tankers for the long-term future," Norton said.
As for the grounded tankers, a plan is in place to determine whether any of them could be upgraded to meet safety standards.
"We laid out for those companies the kind of information they'd have to provide, the kind of work that would have to be done to see that those tankers are able to function," Norton said.
Norton's visit included a stop with Mark Rey, U.S. Agriculture Department undersecretary for natural resources and the environment, at Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa, the base for two military C-130 air tankers used to fight forest fires.
Dennis
I FULLY agree that safety SHOULD be FIRST and FOREMOST on the minds of EVERYONE, lives are at stake here BUT.....what RIGHT does the Federal Gov't have to *dictate* how our homes are to be protected. Agreed, there have been 3 fatal crashes of Slurry bombers and 7 precious lives have been lost but in the same breath, how many small aircraft are lost on a daily/weekly bases and untold numbers of fatalities occur? I don't see the FEDS stopping PRIVATE planes from flying......it makes NO SENSE to me Just another way the FEDS are running our lives, might as well set fire to my home and move on
http://www.azcentral.com
Tankers won't fly this fire season
advertisement
State, feds insist Arizona will be OK
Diana Balazs
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 22, 2004 12:00 AM
Despite pleas by Gov. Janet Napolitano and members of Arizona's congressional delegation, a fleet of firefighting air tankers will remain grounded for safety reasons, even as Arizona enters its most dangerous time of year for wildfires.
U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who visited the Valley on Monday, said that even without the large tankers there are sufficient resources available to fight wildland fires this summer in Arizona and throughout the drought-stricken West.
A new strategy has emerged in which smaller, more nimble aircraft can reload more quickly, closer to the fires, and target their drops more efficiently, Norton said.
Smaller craft have been used effectively to fight fires in Arizona this year.
And luckily, this summer has been relatively mild and free of the catastrophic forest fires that have tested the endurance of older firefighting tankers, three of which crashed in fatal accidents in recent years.
Temperatures have been about normal in Arizona and are expected to remain so for the coming week.
Jeanine L'Ecuyer, Napolitano's spokeswoman, said Arizona has the necessary resources to handle fires this year, but they are costing more because of the loss of the air tankers.
The governor agrees that safety is paramount, L'Ecuyer said. "The quarrel we have is not so much with the fact the planes were grounded, but the fact they were grounded with so very little notice."
Arizona has scrambled in recent weeks to contract for alternate aircraft, L'Ecuyer said.
More, smaller planes had to be secured and additional manpower hired to replace the tankers, she said.
The grounded air tankers can hold up to 3,000 gallons each.
Napolitano was particularly concerned about the timing of the grounding, which left little time to plan, L'Ecuyer said. Late June is when some of Arizona's biggest fires have erupted in recent years.
Big tankers grounded
In May, the U.S. Forest Service and Interior Department grounded 33 air tankers, some dating to World War II, by canceling contracts it had with private companies for use of the planes. The move followed a report by the National Transportation Safety Board that the aircrafts' safety and airworthiness could be not be ensured.
The safety board had investigated three air tanker crashes that occurred from 1994 to 2002 and killed seven people.
"We made the decision after the NTSB report came out that we needed to take all the old tankers off-line and focus on getting newer aircraft and safer aircraft to be able to fill in," Norton told the Editorial Board of The Arizona Republic.
"That has caused us now, for this year, to replace the 33 older air tankers with 139 newer aircraft. That includes helicopters. There's single-engine air tankers, small planes, as well as military aircraft," she said.
Although that means increased cost, the federal government is doubling its ability to deliver fire retardant and water to fires, Norton said.
The aircraft must be strategically placed to get to fires as fast as possible, she said. The old tankers could travel longer distances and carry more load, but the smaller aircraft can go to smaller airstrips and refuel more quickly, Norton said.
Future: Smaller aircraft
"We really are moving more toward a smaller and more nimble type of aircraft as opposed to the big tankers for the long-term future," Norton said.
As for the grounded tankers, a plan is in place to determine whether any of them could be upgraded to meet safety standards.
"We laid out for those companies the kind of information they'd have to provide, the kind of work that would have to be done to see that those tankers are able to function," Norton said.
Norton's visit included a stop with Mark Rey, U.S. Agriculture Department undersecretary for natural resources and the environment, at Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa, the base for two military C-130 air tankers used to fight forest fires.
Dennis
