b'PHOTO: SEAN RIESENBERG BLMEMERGENCY OPERATIONS CPR65burned 3,500 remote acres in Wyomings Converse County, when planes dropped up to 76,000 gallons in a single day. In recent years, the average amount of retardant used annually had been 90,000 gallons, but 2024 required 856,000 gallons of retardantnearly 10 times more than usual.Dropping that amount of fire retardant requires a lot of aircraft. Clark Hammond, regional aviation officer for the U.S. Forest Service in Denver, notes that the fleet operating out of CPR included, among others, BAE-146 large airtankers and RJ-85 single-engine airtankers leased from Neptune Aviation Services as well as AT-802 single-engine tankers flown by pilots from Air Tractor, and four Super Scooper planes supplied and flown by Bridger Aerospace. A Joint EffortThe coordination that occurred to create the state-of-the-art base is a story in and of itself. In 2009, CPR started serving as the site for portable firefighting bases to help crews battle wildfires as needed. By 2020, it was permanently housing two single-engine airtankers for the Wyoming State Forestry Division. The Bureau of Land ManagementCraig Short, fireThe Bureau of Land Management also leases the new base and a pre-existingmanagement officerhas bases for single-engine airtankers 256 9,000-square-foot dispatch center from thefor the Bureau ofmiles from CPR, at Southwest Wyoming airport.Land ManagementsRegional Airport in Rock Springs, and Wyoming High Plainsat Worland Municipal Airport,156 miles A Step Up District, points outfrom Casper. After upgrading those The differences between the old and newthat the new basefacilities years before, it then focused on bases are considerableincluding anat CPR can handleCRAIG SHORT enhancing CPR.increase in the maximum daily output offirefighting aircraftOriginally, the plan was to upgrade fully mixed retardant from 15,000 gallons toranging from single-engine tankers withthe airports makeshift facilities into a 90,000 gallons. Also, the new Operationsindividual maximum capacities of 800base that could handle two single-engine Building replaces two separate trailers. gallons to Lockheed C-130Qs, which canairtankers simultaneously. In fact, design At the old facility, crews could only loadeach hold 4,000 gallons.drawings by Ardurra Group were 95% one single-engine air tanker with retardantcomplete when the U.S. Forest Service 2024 Fire Season joined the discussions, with the idea of or fuel at a time. Now, they can load two planes simultaneously, mixing or matchingThe new capabilities at CPR help meet abringing a large airtanker base to CPRsingle-engine and large air tankers. Inpressing need. In 2009, for example, theand possibly providing funding to do so. addition, they can load Modular Airborneairports previous base supported crews responding to 55 wildfires in Wyoming andWe pivoted, recalls Januska, Firefighting Systems3,000-gallon tanksMy hope was maybe we could build that are filled with retardant and slid intosurrounding states. During the 2024 fire season, aircraft out of CPR responded tosomething that would work for both [the C-130 Hercules and Super Hercules Js.U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land The retardant is a mixture of water andmore than 80 fires, flying more than 450 missions. Moreover, the 2024 seasonManagement]. He and Jake Hlavacek, fire-suppressing chemicals with gelling/ director of Operations and Maintenance at thickening agents and red coloring thatlasted from June 23 (the bases very first mission) until Oct. 28. Peak activity came inCPR, consequently asked Ardurra what it helps pilots see where theyve droppedwould take to make the planned single-the crucial fire-fighting liquid. September, during the LaBonte Fire, which AirportImprovement.comMay | June 2025'