CEDAR CITY, Utah — As the summer wildfire season heats up, it'll be time to look to the skies and the air tankers who will be the biggest line of defense for Utah.
Kyle Carnahan pilots a firefighting C-130 out of the Interagency Fire Air Center at Cedar City’s airport, which is home base for firefighting teams taking on wildfires in southern Utah and other parts of the southwest.
During his 12 years in the Air Force, Carnahan piloted C-130s and C-146s on six continents.
"I never thought I would find the same type of coordination, the same type of mission, the same type of purpose as I did when I was supporting ground troops in Afghanistan as I do flying fire and fighting fire," Carnahan said. "The idea of flying for a purpose and service, that's always just stuck with me."
Why are firefighters checking each and every Salt Lake City hydrant?
The firefighting plane Carnahan flies now is part of a fleet that includes other large air tankers, smaller single-engine tankers known as SEATS, and several helicopters.
Because speed is also important, Carnahan’s plane can fill up with water in a hurry.
"It takes about 15 to 20 minutes," he explained. "We have a 4,000 gallon tank, so that's filling up a swimming pool in a quarter of an hour."
That swimming pool of fire relief is going to come in handy after the driest winter in recent memory. The fire manager for the western side of the Dixie National Forest for more than a decade says he’s never seen so much fuel ready to burn.
"We did not receive hardly any snowpack this year, which in turn, it makes our heavier fuels a lot drier," said Skeet Houston. "June and July are expected to be above average chance of large fire development with our current conditions."
Another concern is the sparks from loose chains off trucks or blown tires, which is a huge driver of fires.
"One little spark can devastate and cause a catastrophic wildfire. That has been our number one issue for the last 10 years," said Kayli Guild, Fire Prevention and Communications Coordinator for the Utah Division of Forestry.
When those wildfires do happen, Carnahan said he’s gotten thanks from the smoke jumpers and other firefighters for the air support.
"I usually reciprocate with that because they are doing a job," he shared. "I mean, being out there on the line, doing that type of work, being that close, being just in that type of a hazardous condition, I give it to them."
