Napa County - quick response planes (LNU)

[FireCapt]

Interesting idea of two quick attack SEATS for IA at Napa County airport.

The cost to rent the service from a private company for six months is $1.5 million. Napa Growers/Vintners for Responsible Agriculture is offering to pay and would fundraise if and when some issues are worked out with Cal Fire.

“I feel quite confident I can raise that. If you look at $1.5 million in the wine industry, it’s like nothing compared to the losses we incurred,” Dunn said.

If the idea comes to fruition, Growers/Vintners for Responsible Agriculture would bring the two planes here as an experiment. The planes during fire season would sit at a local airport fueled and loaded with water, with pilots ready to fly.

The question is how this privately funded venture might fit in with Cal Fire’s firefighting efforts. The answer could determine if the Fire Boss idea gets off the ground.

https://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/napa-county-group-proposes-quick-response-wildfire-fighting-planes/article_896d479d-9815-546b-bd68-e5bbc9923d22.html?fbclid=IwAR2Dst4Af7FgYJKFW6PA7CJqAfimIu6ISFHIsCVeDBokKeTHHjlgUgY52ak#tracking-source=home-trending

[norcal74]

Here is an idea for the vinters… why do they not fully fund the county fire department that exists and expand it… maybe a local hand crew and dozer… planes only work during the day, everything else works all day long… and overnight.

[firedog1]

And the fact that CALFIRE prefers twin engine aircraft for the obvious reasons. SEATS do not have the best record but that falls on the pilots as much as airframe.
CALFIRE operates 2 full air attack bases in the wine country, Sonoma and Ukiah. It is always the cool glitzy solutions that attract attention.
I think the money would be better spent elsewhere such as education. We can throw as much money as we want at these types of fires, but nothing will work until we help people understand what vegetation management and self responsibility means. The weather conditions that existed during these fires prevented aircraft from flying a good portion of the time anyway.

[norcal74]

Could not agree more… It is always someone else’s fault…

[GSW1]

That other question is who is going to foot the bill on any dispatches. Are they going to be dispatched on all wildland dispatches and who ultimately have the final say on when they go or stay. There is to many variables that ultimately have to be worked out.

[itsmyjob1]

Im with firedog, I really believe we need to push people to really understand the importance of proper land management. Beyond 30 foot and 100 foot zones. Growing up in the timber industry and living in the Sierra Nevadas I have always discussed “whole land management” with any of my family, friends and neighbors that asked about what they can do to make their home more safe. Maybe a community organization that helps spread the money around to better manage the private lands in the area would go a long ways.

[Dozer_Keith]

Just a quick update on this matter. On Tuesday, the Napa County Board of Supervisors voted to not proceed forward with the SEAT Contract. It is my belief that this was a correct decision although a very politically motivated discussion. With the new C104 being 7-10 min out and the aircraft from Sonoma AAB being approximately the same distance out, having non-Agency aircraft in the airspace would have presented significant logistical and safety issues for both ground and aerial personnel. Additionally, the devastating fires, including the Atlas, the Tubbs, the Kincade, the Glass and the Hennessey all started either at night or when wind and weather conditions, or all of those conditions, precluded aircraft from flying.

Here is the most current article from the Napa Valley Register regarding this latest update.

Napa County declines Fire Boss planes for the 2021 wildfire season

[pyrogeography]

The marketing guys for some of the airtanker companies are really aggressive and full of it sometimes. I sat in meetings and listened to one of them tell everyone how his company could’ve put out the Camp Fire with their Fire Bosses if they had ‘been allowed to fly’ during the initial hours of the Camp Fire. Same guy was pedaling the same story while crews were still pulling bodies out of cars on the hill. Made me really angry they were using our disaster to push their agenda/contract.

“Within hours of the fire’s start, ________ offered to deploy its firefighting aircraft fleet, which include the water scooping Fire Boss aircraft on the early stages of the fire. Unfortunately Cal Fire once again declined the use of single-engine air tankers in combating fires in their jurisdiction,” ___ responded in an email".

‘Within hours of the fire’s start’ the fire had already smoked half of Paradise and was pushing 15,000 acres…

Wind, smoke halted initial Camp Fire air attack