Cedar Fire Use of Water Scoopers 2016

Lake Isabella near Kernville, Calif., located two miles from the Cedar Fire, provided a perfect opportunity for using Scoopers. The turnaround time from loading and dropping water with the Scoopers on the Cedar Fire was between 10 and 15 minutes. The Cedar Fire used a pair of Scoopers (261 and 262) that worked in tandem for more than five days, dropping water from 100-150 feet. They are staged at the airport in Bakersfield. This pair timed out (eight hours of flight time) on two consecutive days supporting fire suppression activities on two sides of the Cedar Fire. On August 22 on the Cedar Fire, the Scoopers made 58 drops, with Scooper 261 dropping 57,500 gallons of water and Scooper 262 dropping 52,000 gallons of water. They both flew eight hours that day.

Fixed Wing, RLS, Aviation, Large Fire