Colorado Springs Airtanker Base plays crucial role in supplying planes with retardant for wildfires

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - In the fight against four different wildfires blazing in northern Colorado, many planes helping drop fire retardant to contain the spread, are being re-fueled and refilled by the crews at the Colorado Springs Airtanker base, right next to the Colorado Springs airport.

The Springs' base has been at the ready this week helping supply as many as a dozen planes that have been circling those wildfires.

Other airtanker bases like the one in Jefferson County have only two fueling stations, and as a result has become inundated with fueling requests, which has opened the gate for Colorado Springs to take charge.

"Rather than waiting up in 'JeffCo' for 20 minutes for that pit to open, they can send them to us [instead]." explained Josh Walk, the Manager for the Colorado Springs Airtanker Base.

The base in the Springs is operated by the U.S Forest Service. While it only opened in 2021, it has expanded to become the largest of the four airtanker bases that exist in Colorado.

Their primary function is to load planes fighting wildfires with thousands of gallons of fire retardant, which is mixed on site and kept in large storage apparatus. Crews on scene can also fuel the planes, before taking off once again toward the front lines.

The retardant, sometimes referred to as "Slurry", is a mixture of a red powder material and water. It's that red powder which caked the arms and clothes of a dozen crew members at the base on Wednesday while they emptied one-ton barrels of the material with ease into a machine that mixes it with water.

The base can accommodate four fueling pits for planes, and since the base was built with a concrete platform and tarmac, they can also accept heavy-duty aircraft.

Walk explained that VLATs, which is short for "Very Large Air Tankers", can carry up to 9,400 gallons of retardant. Below them are just LATs, or "Large Air Tankers", which can carry 3,000 gallons, while C-130 aircrafts can hold about 4,000 gallons.

On Wednesday, a DC-10 model aircraft, which falls under VLAT category, flew into the Springs Airtanker Base. Walk says that it is only one of four DC-10's in the entire U.S Forest Service's fleet. Walk said that the other DC-10's are being deployed to Washington, and California for other intense wildfires that are raging. Their massive payload makes them a heavy-hitter in the firefighting world.

It's due to the need for large volumes of retardant on a routine basis during busy wildfire days, that the crews at the base can pump out tens of thousands of gallons, on very short notice.

"In a day we can put out over 200,000 gallons if needed. Our busiest day this year previously was about 125,000 gallons." said Walk, referring to the Oak Ridge Fire that was burning in Buelah, Colorado from June 22 into early July.

Walk says, contrary to popular belief, the streaks of red that you see dropped by those planes are not to directly douse the burning trees, but rather coat the forestry that has not yet been touched, to slow the spread, and allow firefighters on the ground to go on foot and meet the blaze there.

Walk says he expects these wildfires to continue to burn for at least the next two weeks based on current fuels and weather conditions, saying that without a major addition of moisture, it will be a tough battle.

But he was quick to say if those burns continue, his base will be ready.