This fire burned 6,181 acres as opposed to the largest fire in that state's history, the 2002 Hayman Fire which burned over 138,000 acres. However, the Fourmile Canyon Fire destroyed 169 homes versus the Hayman Fire's 133 homes destroyed.
The airport pictured here is the tanker base at Rocky Mountain Metro AP in Broomfield, CO. Tanker 21 and Tanker 25 are P-3 Orions while Tanker 45 and Tanker 48 are P-2V Neptunes. The helitankers are S-64 Sikorsky Aircranes manufactured by Erickson Air-Crane thus making them officially Erickson Air-Cranes. The Type-2 helicopter is a Bell 205 "Huey".
All photos are posted in the order they were sent to me.
Tanker 25
Tanker 25
Tanker 25 with Denver, CO, in the background
Tanker 25 with media and gawkers
Tanker 25
Overhead heading back to the incident command post
Incident Command Post (ICP)
Manitou Springs water tender refilling at ICP
Road block into the evacuated zone
Helitanker 733
Helitanker 719
Unknown helicopter unit with bucket
Fourmile Fire burn area
Fourmile Fire burn area
Fourmile Fire burn area
Tanker 21 and Tanker 25
Tanker 21
Tanker 48
Tanker 45
Fini
All photos by James Nelson (all rights reserved)
Thanks for sharing the pics. I remember the fire, the smoke was so thick it blocked out the sun for two days.
ReplyDeletePicture identifying "Tanker 21 and Tanker 25" shows a Neptune P2V (note paint scheme and two engine w/ jet pods) on approach and an Aero Union Orion tanker parked. The tanker on approach is most likely Tanker 45 from Neptune Aviation Services in Missoula, Montana. Tanker 45 has a fire retardant capacity of 2,700 gallons with six door retardant dispensing tanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting pictures!