Air Tanker Base for wildfire suppression revamped at Kirtland Air Force Base [Video]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – After one of the most devastating wildfires in New Mexico history, Albuquerque is now home to a new hub where some of the nation’s biggest firefighting air tankers should be able to respond to blazes faster.

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When it comes to wildfires, time matters. “It’s tremendous. The efficiency and the speed in which we can load and then launch these planes is increased tremendously,” said Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands Fire Staff Officer Matt Rau.

The U.S. Forest Service and Kirtland Air Force Base have expanded their partnership as they made some major upgrades to the Cibola National Forest Air Tanker Base. The base can now accommodate very large air tankers (VLATs) which hold more than 9,000 gallons of fire retardant.

“The air tanker delivery of retardant certainly doesn’t put fires out, but what it does is it buys time to firefighters on the ground to get in and actually do their work,” said …