Grounded Firefighting Plane Finally Takes Off

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September 26, 2006 12:54 PM

A powerful firefighting plane, a DC-10 capable of dropping 12,000 gallons of fire retardent, has finally joined the fight against California's raging wildfires, three weeks after federal government red tape had kept it on the ground.

The California Department of Forestry called in the plane as soon as the fires spread from federal land to land under the state's jurisdiction.  The federal government still has not approved the plane for use.

"The U.S. Forest Service has not had time to approve the plane," said Rose Davis, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service. "The Forest Service has a different set of rules and regulations than CDF."

California state authorities would not pay for the DC-10 while the fire was still on federal land. "That's not our fire," said a spokesperson for CDF.

The plane costs $26,500 an hour to lease and is currently on a "call when needed" contract with CDF.

Local residents are overjoyed that the DC-10 Supertanker was finally put to use. "We're thrilled," said Mindy Masters, a Los Angeles county resident who was outraged last week by the red tape grounding the Supertankers.

Another Supertanker, a 747, is still sitting on a runway in Arizona waiting for the FAA to approve it even though it has already been approved by the U.S. Forest Service.