[pct-l] The Potentially Bad Fire Season Just Got Potentially Worse

[rogers at isi.edu (Craig Milo Rogers)]

	The U.S. Forest Service and the Dept. of the Interior just
cancelled the contracts*** for 33 fire-fighting tanker aircraft, after
concluding that the aging aircraft cannot be safely maintained+++.
There are other tanker aircraft available (the Calif. Dept. of
Forestry has 3 large fixed-wing air tankers, the U.S. military
operates some, and there are helicopters and smaller fixed-wing air
tankers in inventory), but the termination of the federal civilian
large tanker aircraft is expected to greatly reduce the nation's
ability to fight forest fires, particularly in near-urban settings.

http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208~12588~2139989,00.html

					Craig "Computer" Rogers

*** The aircraft were operated by private companies for the federal
    government.

+++ Recall the dramatic (and fatal) midair disintegration of a U.S.
    Forest Service C130A tanker in California in 2002.
    http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20020621X00954&key=1