HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The area has seen a lot of wildfires over the past week, including a large blaze that kept fire crews on their toes most of the day Saturday. That brought up the question by the Hutchinson City Council to Fire Chief Steve Beer as to why the aerial spray plane that is housed at the airport was not used. While the plane has gathered much hoopla and praise, Beer says it’s not anything he would consider using in this area.
“I got some personal phone calls about why the airplane wasn’t deployed,” Beer said. “The general public thinks that’s owned by the Hutchinson Fire Department and that’s one misperception that’s out there since it’s based out of Hutchinson.”
With small farms and residences scattered around the area, Beer says the plane is of little use in fighting fires. Plus it’s expensive, costing $4,000 per hour. Beer notes that, while the plane was welcome, it was put here and made available with little advanced planning.
“There’s no standard operating procedure in place yet with this thing. We have this plane here and it might work great out in western Kansas where there’s no homes and all of these other buildings,” Beer stressed. “But when we have what we have here, which is a true urban interface wildfire situation where we have 10 acres and a brand new house, when a plane comes in and dumps this water, it can knock down trees. If it hits a pickup, it can actually roll a pickup.”
Beer says there have been instances out west where water bombing has killed firefighters. Without a plan of operation and no communication available, he’s not about to endanger his fire crews using the airplane.
“Until we get a standard operating procedure, I’m not going to risk my men and women on the front lines because it’s just a very dangerous operation just dumping water out of the sky.”
During the wildfires three years ago, helicopters were used to fight the fire. Beer says that’s different because the helicopters can place the water where it is needed while hovering over a selected site.
Beer says he plans to meet with the Kansas Forest Service this week to discuss if the plane has the potential to benefit the area during a wildfire.