Picture of the Day - VLAT B-Lining To Barn

Today into tonight I worked a shift at a wedding at Avila Beach Golf Resort. During the daylight portion of the event there was an endless parade of firefighting aircraft passing to and fro between the Los Padres National Forest's Santa Maria Air Attack Base and the Soberanes Fire on the Monterey District of the forest. This included two VLATs (Very Large Air Tankers) which must use Santa Maria as CAL FIRE's Paso Robles Air Attack Base's runway is too short for the DC-10s. The activity level was up from recent norms with the fire blowing up today as temperatures rose and an offshore wind conspired to push the fire harder. By tonight, new evacuation warnings have been issued for Arroyo Seco Road and East Carmel Valley Road west of Greenfield, CA. I watched both VLATs fly over my location this evening en route "back to the barn" for the night in Santa Maria. I captured the image above of the last one of the two to pass over me. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).