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July 18, 2017

Boeing 747: a useful tool to fight wildfires or pork barrel spending in western states?

  • Global SuperTanker Services claims the Forest Service is seeking to keep the plane grounded and won't say why.
    • By KEITH RIDLER
    Associated Press

    Hiroshi Ando/Global Supertanker Services via AP [enlarge]
    Global Supertanker Services says its Boeing 747 can drop nearly 20,000 gallons of retardant on wildfires. The firm has filed a protest with the Forest Service contesting a contract limiting firefighting aircraft to 5,000 gallons.

    BOISE, Idaho — A giant aircraft that can fly high above oceans on intercontinental flights instead jets in low and slow over a flaming forest, trailing a long plume that settles on the ground and creates a wildfire-stopping barrier.


     
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