As more people migrate from urban areas to the suburbs or countryside, the risk of wildfires threatening our homes and lives increases. We often see dramatic footage on the news and assume it won’t happen to us. Still, scientists and emergency responders warn that increased human activity near forests leads to more wildfire incidents.
We might feel secure knowing we have local fire stations or volunteer firefighters ready to respond. However, predicting wildfires is challenging, and there aren’t always sufficient taxpayer funds to be fully prepared.
Aerial firefighting involving unmanned aerial systems, planes, and helicopters is crucial in wildfire management. These aircraft can detect fires, provide critical information to ground firefighters, and drop water or retardant to slow the fire’s spread. Despite their importance, there are insufficient resources to address every fire, and the system is under strain.
One industry insider confides, “The public doesn’t know that there simply are not enough resources available to respond when their home is threatened”.
An estimated 45 million residential buildings across the US are at risk of destruction from wildfires, and the number continues to grow. California boasts over 60 state-owned aircraft that can respond swiftly, but the rest of the U.S. must share about 200 aircraft, mostly helicopters, for a vast area. This equates to one aircraft for every 3.3 million acres of public land, which doesn’t include your home!
Various entities are responsible for combating wildfires. The federal government protects public lands, while state and local taxes fund efforts to safeguard our homes. Yet, the division of responsibilities and funding is not always clear.
However, we are fortunate that, like our military, wildland firefighters are ready to put their lives on the line to safeguard their neighbors’ lives and property. So much so that they feel a heavy burden when they cannot do that. Zach Sullivan, a firefighter on the ground and in the air for over twenty years, says that he once had to see over half of the homes he was sent to protect go up in flames, having little control over the result. He knew he wasn’t responsible but couldn’t help feeling a bit ashamed for the failure.
“I’m not sure the public understands how they are transferring the risk to firefighters who will do everything they can to extinguish the fire,” Sullivan says. His voice carries the weight of countless missions.
“Then we’ll go back to a camp or our car to eat a subpar meal, likely not take a shower after 12+ hours in the dirt and smoke, and sleep on the ground or in our vehicle.”
Along with the critical ground forces, there are pilots, mechanics, and other support personnel who ensure that the aircraft used to protect those ground firefighters is safe and ready to perform when needed. Unfortunately, this group of experts isn’t huge, and recruiting and keeping this critical workforce has become an increasingly daunting challenge.
“There’s a worldwide pilot shortage, and aerial firefighting pilots are an even more specialized group to try to hire,” explains Bart Brainerd, CEO of Firehawk Helicopters. The problem extends beyond the cockpit, as skilled aircraft mechanics are also hard to come by. Veteran aircraft mechanics from the military are sought after for their ability and employability. Still, they can often make more money and have more job stability working for an amusement park than for an aerial firefighting company, as Brainerd found out the hard way.
Wildland firefighting can be a tough sell, with all industries suffering from labor shortages. “Being gone five months during the year fighting fire and then more days in the winter training makes it tough to keep relationships. If you can find that special someone who understands that you are fortunate,” says Sullivan. Then there is the inconsistent work and low pay. Federal firefighters have been waiting for years to receive a permanent pay increase from Congress that they hope to see happen in 2025. Still, the often temporary nature of the work for them and the ground and aerial firefighters who work for private companies makes it hard for everyone to find and afford housing and maintain a work-life balance and relationships at home.
The business model of aerial firefighting companies is also fraught with challenges. Eric Komberec, a pilot and small business owner, says there is a saying in the industry,
“If you want to make a million dollars fighting fire, you must start with two.” People do this work for the mission, not the money.
Most services are bought by governments on a “call when needed” basis, which makes sense on paper for the taxpayer but creates significant financial instability for those businesses that provide these critical services. The financial realities of aerial firefighting companies are daunting. Unlike businesses that can balance their workload across multiple clients, these companies live and die by the severity of a single fire season and only a few government customers.
“If the season is longer than expected, we can sometimes make a profit,” says Brainerd. “But often, the income does not cover costs, and if there is any excess, it’s put towards prior expenses in years where firefighting was limited.” This feast-or-famine cycle forces tough decisions. “We have to lay off experienced personnel, sell aircraft, or may even need to shut our doors entirely,” Brainerd explains. “It’s a constant scramble to keep the lights on.” When companies don’t have enough income or bank credit to keep employees on staff, to support aircraft, to provide continuous training, it takes a toll.
Unfortunately for both the public and industry, there isn’t an expectation of readiness or levels of funding for wildland firefighting like there is for the military.
“The military is constantly training for the war they hope will never happen,” points out Paul Petersen, Executive Director of United Aerial Firefighters Association (UAFA). “No one would suggest we lay them off and call them back after an enemy attacks, especially if we expect them to win the battle. Then why are we expecting our wildland firefighters to be able to do it?”
The reality of aerial firefighting is sometimes they’re the last line of defense between a wildfire and people’s homes, or even firefighters. Andy Taylor, a veteran pilot and owner of NEW FRONTIER AVIATION INC, provides single engine airtanker (SEAT) services to the Bureau of Land Management. He speaks proudly yet humbly of a recent sortie where he was able to save an engine crew trapped by the fires. “If we hadn’t been close by, I’m not sure what would have happened to that crew, but it wouldn’t have been good. I worry about the number of crews who may not have that extra support from the air when we are at P.L. 5 or in the shoulder season when there are no aircraft on contract to call.”
Preparedness Level (P.L.) is a term used by the National Interagency Fire Center to describe the current level of resources available to respond to wildfire in the U.S. P.L. 5 means that national resources are heavily committed, and everyone must take their own emergency measures to sustain incident operations. It is the time, typically in August, when the country is having to pick and choose which fires get aircraft, how many ground crews can have their already completed 14-day rotation extended to 21 days, and where there just may not be as robust of a response as is desired or needed. Being at P.L. 5 today, in October, is not normal and its primarily due to lack of contracted resources being available to hire, not because they are committed to a incident.
This is what Taylor was talking about when he said there may not be an aircraft on contract. The government only pays for aircraft to be on standby when they are certain they will be used. That means in the shoulder months of October-April, aircraft may be undergoing maintenance or even in Australia or South America. This is one of the reasons aircraft were slow to arrive in Texas this past February. There were no aircraft on contract, and it took days to move the bureaucratic wheels to have them arrive. Something that a change in the way ground and air resources are hired could change.
If the situation in the U.S. isn’t daunting enough, the challenges facing U.S. aerial firefighting companies are compounded by soaring global demand. Rising fire threats in Europe, South America, Australia, and Asia have created fierce competition for these specialized resources.
“Aircraft manufacturers simply can’t keep pace with the growing need,” says Stephen Johnson, the Global Sales Director for Fire Boss, a company that makes floats for single engine air tankers.
This global squeeze puts U.S. companies in an impossible position: chase lucrative overseas contracts, rely on unpredictable domestic work, or risk financial ruin.
There isn’t a silver bullet solution for the issues these companies face, but there are recommendations. As part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Congress took bipartisan action to set up the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission (WFMMC). They charged the 50-member Commission with the ambitious task of creating policy recommendations to address nearly every part of the wildfire crisis, including mitigation, management, and post fire rehabilitation and recovery. Of the over 150 recommendations, many addressed changes to the way aerial firefighting and other private industries are hired to support suppression.
Longer term contracts, support for pilot recruitment and training, and a nation-wide aerial firefighting strategy that includes readiness in the shoulder seasons are just a few of the improvements which would help companies like Komberec, Brainerd, Johnson and Taylor’s to be able to “survive to fight another day” to protect your life and property.
Public and press attention to the matter helps for a short time, but it is quickly forgotten when the fires subside, much like what happens around hurricane preparedness. The United Aerial Firefighters Association (UAFA) and the National Wildfire Suppression Association have started working with Congress and the agencies to implement the WFMMC recommendations, but it can’t happen fast enough for the companies who are trying to keep the lights on.
