DCNR has plane ready for firefighting

Lori Falce For the CDT

PHILIPSBURG — A well-timed rain shower can be a forester’s or fireman’s best friend. Heading into a potentially busy fire season, the state Department of Conservation of Natural Resources isn’t willing to rely on Mother Nature, so it will fly in its own 800-gallon storm system instead.

There were no wildfires in sight Friday at Mid-State Regional Airport, but misty gray skies were deceiving. For the next six weeks, Pennsylvania will be a pile of kindling just waiting for a stray spark. According to DCNR’s Joseph Miller, 70 percent of all wildfires in Pennsylvania happen between March and May. In District 9, a forestry area covering all of Clearfield, as well as parts of Elk, Cambria and Centre counties, that fire season starts today.

To fight the flames that can spread through winter-dry grasses and branches at terrifying speeds, DCNR’s Bureau of Forestry calls in an airstrike, an Airtractor 802. The single-engine tanker can swoop over the sprawling forestland, identify a blaze and hem it in while waiting for ground troops to arrive.

“It’s a great tool for us to use,” said Miller, who has been fighting forest fires for 29 years. He remembers about 15 years ago how a fire at Two Rock Run toward Renovo ate 10,000 acres in 11 hours. With 190,000 acres of state forest land to protect, he wants this weapon as part of his arsenal.

The idea isn’t to extinguish a blaze. With just an 800-gallon load, compared to the thousands of gallons a minute a fire hose can push, that’s not practical. The point is to hem in the flames, preventing them from moving farther, eating more trees, heading toward homes and other buildings.

And that’s not just done with water. The airplane’s cargo is mixed with fertilizer. The blend creates a flame-retardant liquid that goes down in front of the fire’s path. It prevents the water from drying too quickly and coats the ground and vegetation to make it less burnable when it dries.

And when the danger has passed, the fertilizer can help things grow again, said assistant district forester Wayne Wynick.

In recent days, foresters, fire wardens and volunteer firemen have already been fighting wildfires in the area. Miller pointed to a 53-acre blaze near Philipsburg on Wednesday morning.

The crews on the ground are what make the difference, said Miller.

“Hands down, without them, we’d be in a world of hurt,” he said, giving particular credit to the local volunteer fire companies.