A Soviet Ilyushin 76 (Courtesy GlobalEmergency Reponse)It covers an area the size of 12 football fields with one 10-second drop [of liquid – water or retardant]. It puts a fireline down 300 feet wide and 3,900 feet long in 10 seconds. It would have saved every community in Colorado and Arizona this year. It would have saved those 300 homes in Los Alamos two years ago." ] -Tom Robinson, chief administrator for Global Emergency Response, on the Ilyushin-76 "Waterbomber" The gargantuan Biscuit wildfire in Southern Oregon has now engulfed just under half-a-million acres since lightning ignited it and other western...