Air Tankers Of The High Park Fire

California Disasters member and Colorado sheriff deputy James Nelson has just sent me another parcel of interesting photographs showing wildfire activity in his area of Colorado and the resulting firefighting activity. The following images are shown in the order they were given to me and show aerial firefighting assets in action employed against both the High Park Incident as well as the Springer Incident. The scenes pictured below show the action at the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield, CO. The High Park Fire as of this posting has killed one woman and destroyed 191 homes (thus making it the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history) while also charring 69,543 acres with only 45% containment. Today the fire spotted across a canyon and made a run on several subdivisions. Given ongoing weather conditions, to wit, red flag warnings and such, plus the fact this fire is now established in some bug killed forest zones it seems probable this is far from over.

Tanker #142 lifting off from Rwy 29R at the Rocky Mountain Regional Airport in Broomfield, CO, last Sunday The building in the background is the USFS Slurry Bomber Base, expanded 3 years ago.

Tanker #883, a SEAT, lifts off from Rwy 11L the second day of the fire.

Tanker #44 departs Rwy 11L on June 17, 2012, after a week of the High Park fire burning.

In the next two images Tanker #142 and #48 depart Rwy 29R last Sunday, June 17, 2012. They both turned south and headed to the new Springer Fire located about 60 miles to the southwest of Denver. The fire in the background is the High Park Fire, burning 40 miles to the northwest.

All photos and captions by James Nelson (all rights reserved).