The undated photo provided by the U.S. Forest Service shows a tanker undergoing maintenance at the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in Sacramento, Calif. The HC-130H is the first of seven planes the Forest Service is acquiring from the U.S. Coast Guard to serve as air tankers to battle western wildfires. (Forest Service Photo/Aimee Mautone via AP)Published Tuesday, July 14, 2015
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service is taking possession of U.S. Coast Guard planes that are being converted to drop retardant on wildfires.
The first of the planes, an HC-130H, is based in Sacramento, California and ready to start flying as far as 500 miles to drop retardant on a wildfire. Six more are coming online through 2019 and will be based around the West.
The Forest Service has been working since 2004 to modernize and stabilize the tanker fleet following a series of high-profile crashes.
The former Coast Guard plane brings to 21 the number of planes available for dropping retardant around the West.
Fifteen of them represent the next generation of air tankers that fly faster and carry bigger payloads than in the past.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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