It was a modern equivalent of hammering swords into plowshares. When Dan McIvor, a pilot and volunteer firefighter from Richmond, heard that four

Martin Mars bombers were being sold by the U.S. Navy for scrap in 1959,

he knew there was a better use for these decommissioned war machines:

Bombing forest fires.

McIvor, who worked for MacMillan-Bloedel…

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Aviation History… Continue

This is a very sad time for all of us in the wildland fire community....We lost three brothers in the crash of air tanker 42...Mike Flynn was a very good friend of mine who loved what he did...Tom Risk...Brian Buss..all dedicated to this very dangerous job will be missed....Rest in peace our brothers one day we will all meet again..Save us a place..we will see you soon...









KUTV -- Three people are dead after a morning plane crash in Tooele… Continue

This photo is not of that of Air Tanker 42 but a sisters ship.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A converted military plane crashed in heavy fog in the Oquirrh mountains, killing three crew members of a private Montana-based firefighting company, the Tooele County sheriff said Saturday.



Sheriff Frank Park said the plane was en route from Missoula, Mont., to Alamogordo, N. M., when it failed to clear a mountain pass in Utah.



The… Continue

MINDEN, Nev. — Saying the difference in response would only be about 5 minutes to South Lake Tahoe, the Bureau of Land Management is removing its air tanker support staff from Minden-Tahoe Airport.



BLM Public Information Officer Mark Struble acknowledged that the decision to consolidate heavy tanker operations in Stead would be unpopular in Douglas County.



“I know it’s going to be unpopular down there,” he said. “It was a tough decision, but we honestly think Stead has a… Continue