Cal Fire firefighting aircraft at Sacramento McClellan Airport are working around the clock to battle the Park Fire

MCCLELLAN PARK – The battle to extinguish the flames stretches from Butte County to Sacramento County as firefighting planes perform a delicate dance of takeoffs and landings in an attempt to extinguish the flames.

Fighting fires is just as important on the ground as it is in the air.

More than 100,000 gallons of fire retardant were loaded into tankers on Friday to Park fire From here, that number continues to rise as more tankers come in.

Cal Fire’s firefighting aircraft base in McClellan operates around the clock. As one firefighting aircraft comes in, another one leaves.

“The support we get from the VLATs (Very Large Air Tanker) and LATs (Large Air Tanker) is astronomical for firefighting purposes,” said Alan Rose.

Rose is the base manager of the McClellan Air Tanker Base.

VLATs can store up to 10,000 gallons of fire retardant material in the belly of the aircraft.

The retarder is mixed and made on site. The crew uses a pink powder, with water, and it is pumped through the air tankers.

“Almost like a liquid slime that’s thrown on the ground,” Rose said. “Fire goes to that product and slows it down enough for hand crews to get in there and put it out.”

Each return trip takes about an hour, as the tanker first delivers a cargo and then returns to sail again.

The Park Fire is visible from the control tower in McClellan, which is about 80 miles away.

By Friday evening, the fire had burned more than 239,000 hectares and firefighting aircraft are still arriving to refuel and reload so they can return to fight the fire in the park.

On the other side of the air base is McClellan’s helicopter base.

These Firehawks, military Blackhawk helicopters converted to carry 1,000 gallons of water to fight fires, are now being operated by the newest certified pilots.

“Monday is my first day at Vina, where Shane and I will be working,” said Bradley Hall, one of Cal Fire’s newest Firehawk pilots. “I’m looking forward to getting out there and doing what we can to help.”

Hall and Shane Roberson completed Firehawk training at Cal Fire on Friday morning.

They say they will be the first to fight the fire threatening their home base next week.

“The Park Fire is right next to our unit, right next to our base. We are excited to get involved and help fight this fire,” Roberson said.

The Firehawks can also fly at night, as they are equipped with night vision.

These are the newest tools in Cal Fire’s toolbox. Normally, there’s a fleet of them parked at McClellan, but they’re out fighting the Park Fire. They’re leaving two behind for training and backup.