Why the Global SuperTanker isn’t helping with Colorado wildfires
Over the past few weeks, one question has come into our newsroom more than any other: “Why isn’t the Global SuperTanker assisting with the numerous fires burning in Colorado?”
Ultimately, contract negotiations are the reason why the SuperTanker isn’t flying over the many wildfires burning in Colorado.
But since Global SuperTanker arrived in Colorado Springs in May of 2016, NewsChannel 13 has followed the company’s many struggles.
First, it needed FAA certification to fly. Even after that was obtained in the fall of 2016, it still needed contracts with various governments or federal agencies allowing it to be used in the event of a wildfire.
In 2017 and early 2018, it signed contracts with Douglas County, El Paso County, and the city of Colorado Springs, allowing it to be used if requested by those entities.
(Click here to read the details of the contract with the City of Colorado Springs.)
However, the company has yet to reach a permanent agreement with the state of Colorado or the US Forest Service, preventing it from being used to battle the Spring Fire, 416 Fire, and others.
Repeated calls to the company over the past few days to inquire about the status of negotiations were unreturned.
Even when contracts are signed, those entities will still have to decide whether the SuperTanker is the most economical option.
The SuperTanker can carry 20,000 gallons of fire retardant, significantly more than the next largest air tanker commonly used, the DC-10.
Accordingly, the costs are higher.
In September of 2017, the San Bernadino Sun reported on an agreement between CalFire and the Global SuperTanker, allowing it to be used to fight the Ponderosa Fire in Butte County, California.
CalFire officials told the Sun the cost of securing the aircraft for a 3-day period was $165,000, in addition to $16,500 per flight hour as well as the cost of fire retardant.
It has also assisted with fires in Chile and fires in Israel, but details of those contracts aren’t available.
