BRANTLEY COUNTY, Ga. – While firefighters battle wildfires on the ground in Southeast Georgia and Northeast Florida, a fleet of aircraft is fighting the fires from above — flying just hundreds of feet over active flames to drop thousands of gallons of water and fire retardant.
News4JAX aviation expert Ed Booth, who has flown small planes for 50 years and practiced aviation law for 40 years, has been tracking the planes as they fly in and out of the fire zones.
The aircraft doing much of the heavy lifting are not purpose-built firefighting planes. Booth said many of them started out as passenger jets.
“The fixed-wing aircraft are converted passenger jetliners for the most part that are modified with large tanks in their center section, configured to drop as much as 4,000 gallons of water or different firefighter mixtures for a forest fire,” Booth said.
One example: a McDonnell Douglas 80 series passenger jet, now repurposed as a water bomber. The operation involves a mix of contracted private planes and government aircraft.
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Booth said a key hub for the aerial firefighting effort is an airport off Interstate 10 in Lake City — and the location is no accident.
“They have a long runway. They are in an area without a lot of overflying air traffic. They have a specialized loading pad the Florida Department of Forestry helped sponsor five or six years ago that can take a large jetliner modified for firebombing, load it in a matter of minutes, refuel it, send it on its way — and when it comes back, repeat the process,” Booth said.
Booth believed a Beechcraft King Air is likely commanding the entire aerial operation, coordinating approach angles and drop zones — while keeping a close eye on where ground crews are positioned.
“It coordinates the removal of the firefighters on the ground before they make an airdrop. It can be lethal to drop 3,000 gallons of water on top of a fire and have firefighters underneath — that could cause serious injuries,” Booth said.
A temporary flight restriction is currently in effect over the wildfire areas. That means no drones are permitted to fly in those zones while firefighting operations are underway.
Booth said the pilots carrying out these missions are operating under demanding and dangerous conditions.
“They are very brave. They spend long periods of time away from their families. It’s rugged service,” he said.