An inside look at aerial firefighting — the high-stakes game of combatting the West’s unprecedented wildfires on high

With wildfires burning across the western US, the ground crews often need a little help from on high to fight them. That’s where aerial firefighting comes in.

Business Insider recently got an inside look at how that goes down in Moses Lake, Washington, where fire bombers — including former passenger planes — have worked to slow the spread of the wildfires.

It is just one in a system of such bases dotted throughout the western US, creating a network of coverage that leaves even some of the most remote fires little more than a 30-minute flight away.

Moses Lake has the additional distinction of being one of the few bases nationwide that can handle the very largest aerial tankers, such as the Douglas DC-10 or Boeing 747 Supertanker.

Today, though, the big jets are tasked elsewhere, leaving only two smaller Convair 580 tankers on the ramp.

The 1950s-era propeller planes, operated by Canadian aerial fire-fighting company Conair, were taking a break after a busy morning working the then-enormous Cold Springs fire in the central part of the state.

A break in the action provides a rare look inside the airplane. It’s been almost completely gutted, the original ribs and frame clearly visible.

Some supplies occupy the very rear of the plane, while crew essentials like a change of clothes are closer to the cockpit.

This particular tanker began its life in 1953 as Convair 340 piston-engined passenger plane, flying for the likes of Braniff and Allegheny.

It was upgraded to the turboprop 580 version, most likely in the 1960s, and converted to a fire bomber many years later.

While the cockpit isn’t 100% original, it bears many of the same original instruments and panels as well as some modern upgrades.

The tanker is, as noted, on the smaller side. The very largest, the Boeing 747 Supertanker, can carry 19,200 gallons.

The Convair, though, carries closer to 2,100 gallons, released by a simple button on the yoke.

The tour is broken up with a radio report that an Aeroflite Avro RJ-85 is inbound for a refill and a refuel.

Its home base had become too busy.

Minutes later, the former passenger turned fire bomber jet is pulling into a parking spot on the ramp.

The crews get to work right away.

A team of two runs the retardant hose out to the plane, attaching it to the port and loading in some 3,000 gallons into its tanks.

A fuel truck tops off the gas tank while pilots take a quick restroom break.

Minutes later, the pilots are completing pre-flight checks and starting the engines.

Filled with retardant and a fresh load of fuel, the jet lumbers long down the runway before lifting off and turning eastward toward its target.

While it might seem counter-intuitive, tankers rarely drop retardant onto the fire itself.

Instead, they’ll work with ground crews to drop strategically ahead of the front, creating lines that are intended to direct the course of the flames or slow the advance.

That work was evident a few days earlier, September 4, in the small mountain town of Naches, Washington, where the nearby Evans Canyon Fire had been encroaching at an alarming rate.

On arrival that afternoon, it was already clear that the Convair crews from Moses Lake, along with a few others, had been busy.

A dull red line of retardant stretched for more than a mile across a mountainous ridge-line just outside of town, while several streaks cut dramatically down the closer hillsides.

The efforts had seen the fire beaten back over the mountain, but work was still left to be done.

Overhead, a small plane, which was working as an incident command and control platform, circled the edges of the fire, high and out of sight.

Staffed with an air attack officer, it functions as the eyes on high for firefighters on the ground — helping determine where retardant and water drops are needed, as well as controlling and directing airspace over the fire for aerial units like tankers and helicopters. It often stays airborne for hours upon hours on end.

Today’s command plane isn’t the only one loitering in the area.

Another small plane, this one flying much lower, is likewise running circles over the edge of the fire. Nicknamed the bird dog, its crew picks up tankers arriving to the scene and leads them safely to and through the drop zone.

Typically, the bird-dog pilot triggers a small trail of white smoke, like you might see at an airshow, to show the bomber crew exactly when and where to drop the load. Like the command plane, it often stays up for hours on end, leading multiple tankers through the area until it needs to refuel or is no longer needed.

Sure enough, it isn’t long before a tanker is inbound, the same Conair Convair 580 we’d meet a few days later.

Its two-person crew circles the area with the help of the bird dog before the two dive down low together to drop a line of retardant. The two part ways quickly afterward — the bird dog circling to wait for the next bomber, the Convair headed back to Moses Lake for another load.

When you need good ole water directly onto the fire, though, there are a few other time-tested airborne tools of the trade.

The most common are helicopters.

Exceptionally versatile, they can drop hundreds of gallons of water directly onto the fire with surgical precision, shuttle firefighters and equipment, or help evacuate folks injured or unable to escape.

Unlike tankers, helicopters have no need to go back to a specific base to refill. They can scoop or suction up water almost anywhere it can be found; rivers, lakes, drainage basins, even backyard swimming pools.

They can operate with tanks, as the Bell UH-1 Huey did on the Evans Canyon fire, or with buckets, like the converted army Blackhawks did over the Sumner Grade Fire in western Washington.

That also enables them to douse the fire far more frequently.

While they carry a fraction of the volume of the large aircraft, helicopters may be able to squeeze 10 or more precision drops in an hour.

A tanker, by comparison, may be limited to one or two.

Somewhere between tankers and helicopters lies another valuable tool, the Canadair CL-215T Super Scooper.

A custom-built water bomber, the amphibious airplane earns its name by scooping 1,600 gallons of water out of nearby lakes, reservoirs and depositing it directly onto the fire.

It can even grab water from the ocean if need be.

When refilling, the airplane never completely lands — instead skimming across the top of the water at a low speed until its tanks are topped off. The entire process takes an impressive 12 seconds, filled entirely from the surprisingly small scoops, seen below.

The crews have been busy, hitting fires and lakes throughout Washington State and northern Oregon.

Together, these aircraft, helicopters, their crews on the ground and in the air help keep our communities safe from wildfires.