‘We can get to them faster:’ Air tankers from busy Redmond base provide key element to stopping wildfires

(Update: adding video, comment Neptune Aviation Services, US Forest Service)

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- With numerous major wildfires burning across the state and region well into September, many Central Oregonians have seen more air traffic this week, as air tankers are busy refueling and reloading retardant at their Redmond base.

Redmond Air Center has seen a busy fire season. Air tankers filled with retardants have played a crucial role in tackling fires across the state.

"We can get to them faster than some people can on the ground," said Erik Komberec, the chief pilot with Neptune Aviation, said Thursday. "By air, we can essentially what we call try to box the fire in with a retardant to slow the fire's spread and also combat the flames."

Neptune Aviation Services is based in Missoula, Montana. It's just one of several federal contractors helping fight fires in Central Oregon. Komberec says there are only 18 air tankers in the entire United States.

"There's some days we might end up in three or four states in one day, so we really never know where we're going to stay that night," he said. "We could be there for the next two weeks, or we could be there for the next 2 hours. Honestly, it's a crapshoot on where we're needed and where we're going to go, just based on the need."

Two of their air tankers are stationed at Redmond Air Center to help fight the Wiley Flat Fire, which has burned 16,000 acres.

"I think that's about a 20-minute flight from from Redmond to that fire area, so some of our planes yesterday made eight to 10 trips back and forth to the fire," Komberec said.

According to the assistant director of aviation for the Pacific Northwest Region of the US Forest Service, on average there are 25-30 flights per day from the Redmond Air tanker base. This week, there were seven air tankers Tuesday and six operating Thursday. In the last two weeks, there were 15 air tankers stationed at the Redmond airport.  

"We're supposed to be able to be loaded and airborne within 15 minutes from the notification time, and then it usually takes them about 7-10 minutes to load the plane with retardant. And we hold 3,000 gallons and about 30,000 pounds," said Komberec said.

The average turnaround time to load retardant and refuel for the Redmond Air Center is 12 minutes, according to the Forest Service.

"A good trick to firefighting is is a quick response," Komberec said. "We call that the initial attack phase, and sometimes we'll be the first ones at the fire, and sometimes there will be ground resources already there with brush trucks or pumper trucks, and we're there to to assist them."

The Redmond Air Center has sent out 725 loads of retardant, carrying a record 2 million gallons. The previous record was 1.7 million gallons in 2021 - and officials say considering fire season is not nearly over, they expect to surpass that number significantly.