Pilots get first day off since helping extinguish wildfires

Over the last few days, the runway at Colorado Springs Airport has seen a constant flow of both military and civilian aircraft helping to extinguish wildfires taking over parts of southern Colorado.

But the recent rain has allowed these crews to take a rest.

Crews have been working non-stop for nearly a week. It’s been a continual loop for these aircraft as they reload with retardant.

“Currently we have 34 hours flown on the fires, we have 40 drops on the fire, and we’ve dropped about 80,000 pounds of retardant,” said Col. James LeVere, 302nd Air Commander.

But throughout the day Friday, tankers remained on the runway, giving crews a chance to rest.

“With that beneficial moisture, the incident commander felt the aircraft is not as beneficial right now and they’re using ground resources, which is a good thing,” said Robbie Cline with the U.S. Forest Service.

Staff Sgt. Annie Lepillez is one of the many people working nearly non-stop to refuel aircraft during the fires.

“The ground crews come up with a pipe and they fit up into here and we let them know how much we want to put on the aircraft. That’s going to be based off of how much fuel we have on board, how hot it is. The hotter it gets, the less we can put on there,” Lepillez said.

As firefighters battle from the ground, military and civilian aircraft aim to tackle the flames from the sky.

Lt. Col. Toshio Sameshima is one of the pilots who will be flying as soon as he gets the call.

“We fly about 150 feet above the surface and drop the retardant. We’re going about 130 miles per hour,” he said.

These crews are ready to go at any given moment, though they’re still not sure when their next flight could be.