According to Operations on the Two Bulls Fire, crews are having success holding the fire, thanks in part to the air support provided by both fixed and rotary winged aircraft. Helicopters have been doing direct support of firefighter ground operations. Dropping water on hot spots and helping build fire line is the strength of the helicopter operations. The fixed winged planes made drops along fire perimeter and on hot spots to “retard the rate of spread" of the Two Bulls Fire.
As of 2:00 pm on Tuesday, 43 retardant drops totaling nearly 140,000 gallons of retardant have been made by the fleet of aircraft assigned to the Two Bulls Fire. Four alternating aircraft are being used; two MD-87's, a P2V and a BAE146. These converted commercial airliners can carry 3,000 to 4,000 of retardant, respectively. One of the MD-87's made 12 drops in the first 4 hours of the fire, dropping 48,000 gallons in support of the fire crews on the ground according to fireaviation.com.
This blog is cooperatively maintained and posted by those Central Oregon Agencies involved in emergency response, to serve the communities information needs.
At 3:15 today a Deschutes County sheriff at the Skyliners Road block told me a new fire broke out about 12:30 today. We are on our property on Skyliners and see no smoke or clouds. Having chosen not to evacuate up to date accurate information is crucial. Can you confirm this new fire threatening Skyliners please?
ReplyDeleteAnon, that fire was put out by 1:00PM this afternoon.
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