Taking firefighting to the skies

Opening in the summer of 2023, the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Worland Air Base located at the Worland Municipal Airport had a relatively quiet fire season last year, but it has undergone some changes since transforming from an office building and it's geared up and able to handle the busy fire season this year.

Firefighters at the Worland Air Base have been to 24 fires so far this season, and the base just reached the milestone of pumping 100,000 gallons of fire retardant solution on Sept. 19.

The facility in Worland is staffed by one full-time manager and one part-time staff present during fire season. During fire season, which typically lasts from June until October, there are up to eight personnel on the base, sometimes more depending on the amount and degree of fires in the area. The facility is additionally equipped to take on trainees, which Base Manager Daleen Anderson said, "need a qualified person to supervise their operations until fully trained in their respective positions."

The Worland Air Base's primary function is to house pilots of their four single engine airtanker (SEAT) planes, each capable of distributing a load of up to 800 gallons of a fire retardant solution on wildfires, as well as loading and fueling for their four planes and other BLM planes that land at their base. Although they primarily facilitate SEAT's, they are equipped to load just about any plane in the BLM's firefighting fleet.

District Fire Operations Supervisor Grif Cochran was present during the interview with Northern Wyoming News on Sept. 20, and he said, "As far as jurisdiction, these aircraft could be used on any type of fire around here; for example if the Forest Service has a fire, and they need aviation support, they put in a call to dispatch and let us know at the base and we send planes. It doesn't matter the size of the fire, or status of the fire or ownership; jurisdiction doesn't necessarily play into it. We have a lot of cooperative agreements in place, and we coordinate closely with all of our neighboring agencies, counties and things like that, to get them where they need to be as fast as possible."

The facility in Worland is replacing two temporary air bases, one in Greybull and one in Riverton, allowing for a permanent, centralized location from which to operate in their allotted region – typically a 100-mile radius of the air base. Anderson said, "This base offers better facilities and more food and lodging options than we had previously. Having local support with both personnel and management has been helpful with the setup and operation of the base.

This will lead to long-term success of the program by having support for the operations."

TURNING AN OFFICE INTO AN AIRBASE

Acquired by the BLM early in 2023, it took about half a year to get the airbase adequately equipped for that fire season according to Anderson, who began her work at the Worland Airbase on July 1, 2024, after transferring from the Worland BLM office.

She said that it was a smooth transition to get the building (the former terminal) operational as an airbase; all the rooms are original to when they acquired the building in a long-term agreement with the City of Worland.

It already had bathrooms, a laundry room, internet access, and plenty of room to facilitate their needs. Anderson has an office that connects to a large central room where meetings are held at a table in the back, and there is plenty of lounging space in the center. Adjacent rooms all connect to the central room, with some dedicated to providing lounging for on-call firefighters and some for sleeping quarters.

The biggest change that Anderson could mention for the interior of the building was the kitchen where staff can make their own food and prepare communal lunches, which lies across a wall from the laundry room; it was easy enough for them to run pipes for water that already existed to connect to the room next door. Anderson said that the kitchen was finished last, having been completed last winter.

As for the outside, the airbase has a large tarmac that is dedicated for their use just behind the base, with parking for their SEATs, a helicopter pad and a runway that are all dedicated for their use. Anderson said that they run into the occasional hiccup with pilots mistakenly using their tarmac, but for the most part the staff at the Worland Municipal Airport have made the arrangement for their space easy to maintain. The airbase's loading station was ready in time for the fire season of 2023, equipped with several large tanks of PHOS-CHECK fire retardant, which the station mixes with water while pumping into airtanker planes.

Anderson said that this fire season has been a great test of their capabilities, having loaded out 28 planes in one day at the height of the season this summer.

PILOT'S PERSPECTIVE

Pilot Don Jorgenson from Fort Morgan, Colorado, discussed the process of taking a loaded SEAT plane to go fight fires. In explaining how he was one of many pilots staying in Worland from out of town, he said that the agency he works under is part of a national network that assesses fire risks and stages their pilots accordingly.

He said that when the Worland Airbase receives a call, they send out a plane immediately with the information provided. Along the way, the pilot is in communication with staff on the ground through his radio, getting fed additional information about the particular location of the fire. Once there, he gets in contact with air attack, a plane that flies at a higher altitude over the fire for reconnaissance and communication purposes.

His payload is a fire retardant that is dumped on unburned fuel adjacent to the fire, rendering it inflammable and limiting the spread of a wildfire. Once Jorgenson knows where he wants to dump the load of fire retardant, he has a few more decisions to make. He said that his particular model of SEAT plane he uses typically drops from a low altitude ranging from 60 to 100 feet above the surface. He can also control the carpet he drops between a length of about 300 to 1,000 feet, depending on the need.

Jorgenson said that it can be difficult, but he and the rest of the pilots practice throughout the off-season and are fairly accurate when it comes to hitting their target.

FUTURE OF THE BASE

Anderson named some of the improvements coming in the near future, including a concrete retaining wall that will house the loading station, upgraded plumbing to handle their extensive water and drainage needs, and a myriad of standardizations that the BLM has planned for the station.

She also said that the base is working with the City of Worland with the goal of increasing their available ramp space for their planes. Anderson said that the City has been incredible to work with so far, naming them as a huge help in facilitating the approval and construction of their helicopter pad.

Anderson said that since she began in July, her first year at the Airbase has been a great experience, and she looks forward to being part of its continued service and improvements.