I don’t understand why they don’t have a fleet of 20+ year old 747-200s converted into water bombers with a capacity of 20,000 gallons each. They could put out a fire in quite a hurry with kind of capacity.
The main problem is the Gov moves slow and the USFS is no exception. They mismanage and then are slow to correct the problem.
Here is a great article that goes into detail.
“When questioned why the 747 and other assets were not called into service, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack told KUSA, “This is complicated.”
Of course it is Tom! You work for the US Gov and you cant do a thing without a host of regulation and red tape.