Video shows massive air tanker battling southern Arizona wildfire
Jun 9, 2017, 5:06 AM
PHOENIX — It’s wildfire season around the Valley, so it’s extra important for the public to be careful when planning to spend time outdoors.
By Thursday morning, two wildfires in southern Arizona forced an evacuation of a small town and had burned more than 3,400 acres.
In order to contain these damaging events, fire departments will drop materials on top of the wildfires. We often hear about the drops, but we usually don’t get an up close view of them in action.
Thanks to the Sonoita-Elgin Fire District, we do now.
“The lead plane will put out a little trail of smoke to show the air tanker where to put the slurry drop – if you watch carefully you’ll see the little smoke trail just before the tanker begins to drop his load,” the video’s description reads on their Facebook page.
The video, which was filmed by SEFD Capt. Jackson, shows the teamwork that happens between a lead plane and a tanker to drop the material at just the right moment.
