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Helitanker from Central Point takes break from Greece to help Turkey By DAVID PRESZLER One of Erickson Air-Crane's helitankers helped quell the oil refinery fire in earthquake-ravaged Turkey this week, company officials confirmed Friday. The Central Point company's helitanker has been in Greece much of the summer, fighting forest fires on a government contract. Another tanker doing similar work is stationed in Italy. After Tuesday's massive earthquake triggered a fire at a large refinery near the Turkish city of Izmit, the Greek government offered its assistance and sent aircraft, including the Erickson helitanker, to the scene. Seven of the refinery's 30 storage tanks caught fire, and the helitanker's role was to drop foam mix on tanks not yet engulfed in flames to cool them. The helitanker was used Thursday and Friday before returning to Greece. The fire was brought under control Friday, according to news reports from the region. The helitanker was piloted by two Erickson employees, Kenneth Chapman and Al Lange, according to Erickson spokesman Dennis Hubbard. Chapman is a Rogue Valley resident, while Lange hails from Canada. Though few details were available Friday, Hubbard said things went well. "Kenny Chapman said it was very effective," Hubbard said. "He was really impressed." The brief jaunt to Turkey came amid what Hubbard said has been a busy fire season in Greece. In fact, the helitanker was called out to a fire immediately after returning Friday. The Erickson helitanker stationed in Italy has also been busy, he said. Erickson has a fleet of 15 S-64 Aircrane helicopters, five of which are currently assigned to firefighting operations. For firefighting, the Aircranes are outfitted with a 2,000-gallon tank system. The system can deliver eight coverage levels of water, foam mix or retardant, varying from a gallon per 100 square feet to eight gallons per 100 square feet. In special cases, the pilot can dump all 2,000 gallons in less than three seconds. A water cannon is also attached that shoots up to 150 feet at a rate of 300 gallons per second. The company's contracts in Greece and Italy mark its first venture in Europe. Both Italy and Greece suffered through difficult fire seasons last year and were in search of new firefighting methods. Erickson sent two pilots and four mechanics with each helitanker. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA