Colorado Springs-based supertanker needs federal clearance before it can help combat wildfires

(once again, massive wildfires, yet, equipment sitting idle as thousands of acres burn. FU feds!! what the F*** is the hold-up?????? I am so damned sick of the friggin' turf wars--so much damage, so many acres, so much whatever has to happen first? what the F*** is that about??)

Colorado Springs-based supertanker needs federal clearance before it can help combat wildfires

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Firefighting supertanker unveiled in Colorado Springs demonstration on May 5, 2016.


As wildfires rage throughout Colorado and the western United States, some have asked why the massive tanker housed at the Colorado Springs Airport has not been brought in to help.

The owners of the world’s largest firefighting aircraft, a Boeing 747-400 outfitted with tanks that can hold nearly 20,000 gallons of water or fire retardant, are awaiting clearance from federal regulators to use the jumbo jet to combat wildfires, but approval is “imminent,” said Jim Wheeler, CEO of Colorado Springs Global SuperTanker LLC.


May 5, 2016 Firefighting supertanker unveiled in Colorado Springs demonstration
July 13, 2016 More Cold Springs fire evacuees will head home Wednesday; fire 25 percent contained
July 13, 2016 Hayden Pass fire grows to just under 13,000 acres as more expansion is expected
July 12, 2016 Beaver Creek fire now estimated at just under 19,500 acres and growing

“We don’t know where we might be sent once we get approved because we don’t know where the fires might be then, but there are two pretty big fires in Colorado right now,” Wheeler said, referring to the Cold Spring fire near Boulder and the Hayden Pass fire near Coaldale.

http://www.denverpost.com/2016/07/13/colorado-springs-global-supertanker-wildfires/