Smoky skies make firefighting bigger challenge

For Central Oregon, wildfire is nothing new — but this summer has been a lot more smoky than years past in populated areas. It also has had a major impact on aerial firefighting efforts as well.

U.S. Forest Service smokejumper pilot Tony Sleznick said Thursday that smoke can make things more difficult in battling blazes from the sky.

“This has been an exceptionally busy season.” he said. “You can tell by the air quality there’s a lot of fire on the ground, and there’s a lot of smoke, which makes it a challenge for fire aviation.”.

Before becoming a pilot, Sleznick spent 22 years as a smokejumper himself.

“Fantastic, you know — the camaraderie, the mission. It’s fantastic, and i couldn’t be happier,” he said.

Sleznick said pilots are trained to deal with smoke, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

“When it is obscured down to a mile or less (visibility), the aircraft just can’t fly that safely,” he said.

And it’s not that it’s a bumpy ride.

“Not necessarily turbulence — smoke doesn’t provide the turbulence. It’s just the visual item to contend with,” Sleznick said.

Sleznick said smokejumpers offer a speedy response — and a different approach.

“That’s the advantage of the fixed-wing aircraft; we get to orbit over the fire incident and get a good general sense of the fire size, activity, potential and where appropriate landing spots for the smokejumpers might be,” he said.

A typical smokejumper aircraft will carry 10 smokejumpers, two spotters and two flight crew.

And those smokejumpers will be ready to go in a moment’s notice — with gear repaired, packed and ready at all times.