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Tanker pullout alarms ex-pilot Says moving base to K-Falls will boost rural fire risks here By PAUL FATTIG Dave Hangartner estimates that a Forest Service air tanker responding to a wildfire threatening his Ruch home could drop fire retardant on the flames in 21 minutes flat. "That includes loading the plane, taxiing out and flying here," he said. "But if that same plane came out of Klamath Falls, it would take 51 minutes." And those 30 minutes could make the difference between a standing structure and smoking ruins, he said. That's why Hangartner wants the agency to take another look at its plans to close its Medford air tanker base at the end of this fire season and move it to Klamath Falls. The Forest Service announced last year that, largely to save money, this would be the last fire season for the Medford tanker base established in the 1950s. The decision was based on a 1996 study by the agency and the Pacific Northwest Wildland Fire Coordinating Group. Agency experts estimated the move would increase the average response time west of the Cascades by about nine minutes. "But I really don't think anyone believes that," Hangartner said. "If you were to draw a line through Medford, anything west of that would add at least another 30 minutes in response time." Hangartner is no rural resident speculating about fighting fires from the air. Before retiring in 1991, he flew for 29 years as a Forest Service pilot. His job was to pilot the lead plane ahead of tankers to scout the area and give tactical advice. After scoping out fires throughout the nation, including Alaska, he ended his career flying out of Medford. "If there was a need for the base when it opened 43 years ago, there is more of a need for it now," he said. "People have been building more houses in the woods." Jackson County commissioners fired off a letter late last week to the Forest Service, asking that it reconsider the decision. People who attended a forum held last week by the board supported keeping the base in the Rogue Valley. In its letter to Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth and Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, the board warned that closing the base would be detrimental to forests, homes and lives throughout the region. In addition to increasing the vulnerability from wildfires, the economic loss would be significant, the letter said. The closure would mean at least a $2 million annual loss to the Rogue Valley economy, according to an estimate by a Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development Inc. official. That estimate includes a multiplier effect of money spent by the Forest Service in the local economy. The board said the 1996 study was faulty, including a conclusion there was a high probably of fog socking in the Medford airport during the summer. The study doesn't include the fact the airport runway has been lengthened to support larger aircraft. Congressman Greg Walden, R-Hood River, whose 2nd Congressional District includes Jackson and Josephine counties as well as Eastern Oregon, said the board made some valid points in its letter. He intends to cite similar issues in a letter to the agency. "The commissioners have raised some real good questions," Walden said Monday. "The Forest Service ought to take another look at this." Increased housing in rural areas coupled with forested areas where fire prevention over the decades has created a fire hazard ought to give the agency pause, he said. "It seems to me this is an odd time to reduce our resources," he said. The Forest Service determined that it would save nearly $1 million a year by moving the base to Klamath Falls. The agency said the move also would improve safety and efficiency. If the Medford base closes as planned, Forest Service tankers would be deployed out of Klamath Falls, Redmond and Redding, Calif. "We're certainly sympathetic," said Jack Williams, supervisor of the Rogue River and Siskiyou national forests. "We want to provide the best service. But we also have to look at ways to save money." The decision, made at the national level, is part of an effort to improve efficiency at bases nationwide, he said. "We do understand the concerns about fire," he added. "We've brought in new hot-shot crews (that rappel from helicopters) and increased engine crews. We feel we're in pretty good shape now." But Hangartner, noting that he has a lot of affection and respect for the agency, thinks it's a bad decision. "I'm baffled by it," he said. "This valley also has one of the highest fire potentials in Oregon. Every summer we have a lot of high temperatures with low humidity. That base is more important now." He noted it would cost about $3,100 for a Medford-based plane to drop 3,000 gallons of retardant on a fire in the Ruch area. That compares to nearly $7,000 for that same plane from Klamath Falls, he said. But the lost of time is the most important element in stopping a fire, he said. "If you have a house burning in Medford, you certainly don't want your engine coming from Grants Pass," he said. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.