Use of air tankers pays off ... a case study

Abstract

Fire suppression costs in the 1967 Timber Canyon Fire, in Southern California, were increased by about $39,000 over what they would have been had air tankers not been used. But because aircraft were called into help put out the fire, fire damages were reduced by $501,375- yielding a "profit" of $461,574. Data on weather, fuels, and topography made it possible to project with a fair degree of confidence what the probable fire area would have been had air tankers not been used.

Citation

Countryman, Clive M. 1969. Use of air tankers pays off ... a case study. Res. Note PSW-RN-188. Berkeley, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 4 p