What is aerial fire fighting

A wide variety of terminology has been used in the popular media for the aircraft used in aerial firefighting, as well as the methods used. The terms Airtanker or air tanker generally refer to fixed-wing aircraft, with "airtanker" being the form used in official documentation. The popular media also frequently uses the terms water bomber, fire bomber or borate bomber as well.

Air attack is an industry term used for the actual application of aerial resources, both airtanker and helitack, on a fire, although colloquially, "air attack" is also a term used for the airborne manager in a spotter plane who is charged with directing the use of the aerial resources.

Initial attack refers to the first-response of aerial assets to suppress a fire before it grows out of control; aviation assets can usually respond to a reported blaze much quicker than ground elements, especially for wilderness fires.

Extended attack refers to the continued use of aerial assets on an out-of-control fire, primarily to assist ground units in the establishment of firelines in advance of the fire.

Forest-fire fighting One way that a chemical fire retardant would be used is at a wildfire to try and prevent its spread. A fire retardant would not actually be put directly on the fire in an attempt to extinguish it. Generally, fire retardant is dropped around a fire's edges to contain it, allowing crews time to work to put the fire out while the retardant slowed or prevented further spread. However, when needed, retardant can also be dropped directly onto flames when needed to cool the fire and reduce flame length. In a forest or wild fire situation in a remote area, a fire retardant would usually be dropped from a plane or helicopter. For example, it would be used on fires up on mountains where there is limited or no ground access. Fire retardants that are used are considered to be non-toxic. However there is little data on the long-terms effects of fire retardant to people or the environment. One of the most-used commercial retardants is Phos-Chek.

Wildfire retardants

Fire retardant is a substance that helps to delay or prevent combustion. Fire retardants are commonly used in fire fighting. Water is the most commonly used fire retardant, but the phrase typically refers to chemical retardants. It can also refer to a coating over an object, such as a spray retardant to prevent Christmas trees from burning. Fire retardants applied to wildfires is usually a mixture of water and chemicals designed to wet the area as well as chemically retard fire progression through vegetation. Typically it is dyed red so that the application area can be seen from the air. New gel-based retardants which meet NFPA Standard 1150 are being introduced into use. These are dyed other colors to differentiate them from the traditional red retardant. The gels and their dyes are designed to biodegrade naturally. Borate salts were used in the past to fight wildfires but were found to sterilize the soil and were toxic to animals. Newer retardants use ammonium sulfate or ammonium polyphosphate with attapulgite clay thickener or diammonium phosphate with a guar gum derivative thickener. These are not only less toxic but act as fertilizers to help the regrowth of plants after the fire (however, the retardants can be toxic to fish if accidentally dropped in water and then exposed to sunlight). Fire retardants contain wetting agents, preservatives and rust inhibitors and are colored red with ferric oxide to mark where they have been dropped. Brand names of fire retardants for aerial application are Fire-Trol and Phos-Chek.Some water-dropping aircraft carry tanks of a guar gum derivative to thicken the water and reduce runoff.

	Aero Union Aeroflight Inc Aircraft Specialties Air Spray Butler Aviation Central Air Service Central Oregon Aerial Co Conair Custom Farm Service of Montana (Agricultural) D & D Aero Spraying Inc. (Agricultural) Don A. Goodman - Private contractor (Pilot) DM Air Enterprises Ltd Donaire Dontuss Industries Evergreen Air Fire Eaters Flick Aviation Flight Enterprises Inc Thomas W. Hammon - Private contractor (Pilot) Hawkins & Powers Inc. Hillcrest Aircraft Co Idaho Air Tankers Inc Johnson Flying Service Kem-Air Kenting Aviation Kern Air Inc Kinney Air Tankers Kreitzberg Aviation, Inc Lynch Flying Service Moseley Aviation Inc Reeder Flying Service Lester Riley - Private contractor (pilot) Rosenbalm Aviation, INC. Stahmann Farms Inc. (Agricultural) George H. Stell - Private contractor (Pilot) Thompson Flying Service (Ray L. Peck, private contractor)

The first female air tanker pilot: Lynn McGrew

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