Single-engine air tankers that started off as crop-dusting planes and were developed to become firefighting aircraft.

Utah

Single-engine air tankers (SEATS) have become a vital part of Utah's wildfire response, operating from the newly opened BLM Tooele Air Center. These aircraft, originally designed as crop-dusters, have been adapted for firefighting and are capable of quickly delivering fire retardant to active wildfires.

This year, SEATS have dropped 72,000 gallons of retardant and were among the first responders to significant fires such as the Deer Creek Fire and Monroe Canyon Fire. The rapid turnaround and effectiveness of these aircraft have helped keep most fires in the West Desert under control, with the Tooele base now among the busiest in the country.

'Hot rods' take to the skies to fight Utah's biggest wildfires

Here at Tooele Valley Airport is one of the most important pieces of firefighting equipment anywhere in the state. I'm FOX 13 news reporter Spencer Joseph, and today we got an up-close-and-personal look at SEATS, or single-engine air tankers, at their new home here in Tooele. The Tooele Valley Airport is calm Tuesday morning as pilots practice maneuvers and hawks patrol the airspace. But at the north end of the runway, there's another kind of bird of prey sitting ready to hunt down wildfires. So that is a single-engine air tanker. These started as crop-dusting airplanes and were developed into firefighting aircraft. They're hot rods, and they're capable of doing amazing things with the skill that our pilots have. Josh Archibald is the unit aviation manager here, and he showed us around their two hot rods ready on the ramp. These ports, that's where the retardant is pumped onto the airplane. Below the wings, in the middle of the plane, you can see that's called a gate, and that's where the retardant is released. And so far this year, their workload has been... Steady, several a week, and those can last multiple shifts at times. 72,000 gallons of retardant have been dropped by SEATS this year. These two were some of the first to respond to the Deer Creek Fire and Monroe Canyon Fire, and the base has been among the busiest in the country. But on the West Desert, where they primarily work, they've kept most of the fires at bay. Largely attributable to the rapid response and the effectiveness of the tactics. This is the first year the BLM Tooele Air Center has been open, consolidating the operations between SEATS, helicopters, and ground crews under one roof. The firefighters like it, pilots like it. I think we've been proving our effectiveness so far this year. So how do they work? They'll taxi out, they fly in a pair together. Once on the fire, they'll drop 800 gallons of retardant around the fire to slow its spread. Then, once back... It lands, taxis, comes into the loading pit, we pump retardant, they're back on the runway and flying in 12 minutes. And it's that speed that stops fires, even in the worst of conditions. It's a very interesting job. It's very complex, and it's not routine. Spencer Joseph... You never know what you're going to get. Fox 13 News, Utah.

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