An inside look at aerial firefighting of raging West Coast wildfires - Business Insider

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An inside look at aerial firefighting — the high-stakes game of combatting the West's unprecedented wildfires on high

Ground personnel are critical to turning the corner on any fire, but groundwork alone often isn't enough to get the edge on a notoriously vicious and unpredictable enemy. That's when the folks on the ground look up to the sky for a little help.If you've watched the evening news of late, you've likely seen them hard at work.

With wildfires burning across the western US, the ground crews often need a little help from on high to fight them. That's where aerial firefighting comes in.Business Insider recently got an inside look at how that goes down in Moses Lake, Washington, where fire bombers — including former passenger planes — have worked to slow the spread of the wildfires.

Overhead, a small plane, which was working as an incident command and control platform, circled the edges of the fire, high and out of sight.Staffed with an air attack officer, it functions as the eyes on high for firefighters on the ground — helping determine where retardant and water drops are needed, as well as controlling and directing airspace over the fire for aerial units like tankers and helicopters. It often stays airborne for hours upon hours on end.

Sure enough, it isn't long before a tanker is inbound, the same Conair Convair 580 we'd meet a few days later.Its two-person crew circles the area with the help of the bird dog before the two dive down low together to drop a line of retardant. The two part ways quickly afterward — the bird dog circling to wait for the next bomber, the Convair headed back to Moses Lake for another load.

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