Cibola National Forest Air Tanker Base to get $15M upgrade

Bigger air tankers could become a more regular tool in the fight against New Mexico wildfires.

The Cibola National Forest Air Tanker Base, located on Kirtland Air Force Base, is to receive $15.5 million for upgrades so the base can serve Very Large Air Tankers, or VLATS. That type of aircraft can hold about 9,000 gallons of fire retardant, about three times as much as the aircraft that currently use the base.

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., talked about the funding Tuesday during a tour of the air tanker base. He said having an improved base in central New Mexico will reduce the time it takes for large aircraft to get involved in fire fights.

“Having this (base) right here in Albuquerque … changes the game in large swaths of New Mexico and all the way into Colorado and our other neighbors,” Heinrich said.

Forest Service officials said fire season has gotten off to a frenetic start, and the air tanker base in Albuquerque has dumped more fire retardant on New Mexico wildfires than in any summer in recent memory. Planes and helicopters have been used in several wildfires throughout the state this year.

Rick Beal, the base manager, said that in a typical summer the base will drop about half a million gallons of retardant.

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., talks to Matt Rau, an incident commander with the Forest Service, as they look at a tanker at the Cibola National Forest Air Tanker Base. More than 400 flights have been flown out of the base so far this summer. (Mike Sandoval/For the Albuquerque Journal)
The Forest Service uses contractors to fly the planes.

Steven Hattenbach, the forest supervisor, said the base has dumped about 1.6 million gallons of retardant during about 400 flights this year. The majority was dropped on New Mexico fires, though air tankers from the base also fight fires in neighboring states.

“This has been a historic year for this air tanker base,” Hattenbach said.

The Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire burning near Las Vegas, New Mexico, has grown to more than 315,000 acres, making it the largest fire in state history. It has forced thousands of people to flee their homes.

The Santa Fe, Carson and Lincoln national forests, along with most of the Cibola National Forest, will be closed to the public until there is a significant amount of rainfall, forest officials previously announced.

Meanwhile, upgrades planned for the tanker base are getting underway.

Heinrich said a request for proposals has been made public for the construction work. The project could break ground in the fall.

“Unfortunately, I think we’re in for more of this, we’re in the midst of a drought that our region hasn’t seen for 1,200 years,” he said. “We have to update how we do everything and look at what managing and what firefighting means in a changed climate.”