By Megan Swift
The Tribune-Review
LOS ANGELES — Capt. RK Smithley has been one of about a dozen aerial firefighters battling the Los Angeles wildfires, which have killed at least 24 people.
“This is kind of a historical event that we’re operating right now,” he said. “My gut reaction was it’s a nightmare.”
A Ligonier native, Smithley, 65, who lives in Tennessee, works for 10 Tanker, an aerial firefighting organization. He flies a DC-10 Air Tanker.
He helped to drop more than 175,000 gallons of fire retardant during more than a dozen flights over the fires from 9 a.m. until dark Friday and Saturday.
“We’re the biggest tool in the ( U.S. ) Forest Service’s arsenal in terms of air,” Smithley said. “When we get called to a fire, it’s a big fire, and it’s a big deal.”
Though he arrived at the fire on Thursday, he wasn’t able to fly because there wasn’t enough daylight to get to the fire and get back. Other aerial firefighters were on the scene.
“I think Wednesday was too windy,” Smithley said, citing the Santa Ana winds in California that are common during cooler months. “Thursday was the first day they had any air firefighters.”
Smithley’s first instinct was to get to the fire as soon as the winds let him.
“Until the winds die down, you can’t do anything,” he said.
Better conditions eventually enabled Smithley and the other aerial firefighters to hammer the Pacific Palisades fire because it was less windy.
“We pretty much buttoned it up yesterday — that’s why we’re not flying today,” he told TribLive on Sunday.
Boots in the air
Smithley explained that the air tankers he operates can drop up to 1,100 gallons of retardant per second at the level that was used in Los Angeles.
“The retardant looks like a wide — 50-foot-wide area — of red fluid that prevents stuff from burning,” he said, similar to a giant Sharpie marker line on Earth. “We color it red or pink so we can see it from the air.”
The retardant lines the air tankers laid Saturday held into Sunday, which Smithley said was a good sign. Fire retardant is mainly made of salts — typically agricultural fertilizers — that “alter the way the fire burns, decreases the fire intensity and slows the advance of the fire,” according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.
“Our jobs aren’t to extinguish — fire retardant’s intent is to build (containment) walls, perimeters around the fire so ground firefighters can get it,” he said. “Sometimes, we’ll be a mile ahead of the fire.”
He said drones have become a big obstacle for the air tankers in Los Angeles. There were 17 drones reported to be flying illegally in the fire traffic area in one day, he said, more than he’s ever heard of.
“People flying drones because they want to get pictures of the fire and post on Instagram and Facebook — jeopardizing aerial firefighting effort,” he said.
The Los Angeles wildfires have accrued more attention online than other fires Smithley has worked because of the widespread devastation.
“There’s been a tremendous amount of attention on this because of all the houses lost and the lives,” he said. “Tremendous amount of publicity.”
Ligonier roots
Smithley grew up in Ligonier and stayed there until 1996. He spent about 14 years with the Ligonier and Darlington fire departments. He served as vice president and president during his time at the Ligonier department.
When he made the switch to fighting fires from the air, Smithley flew internationally for World Airways, transporting military cargo and passengers, as well as charters.
For the past 10 years, he’s worked for 10 Tanker, which is based out of Albuquerque. Employees live all over the country, which is how he’s able to have his home in Chuckey, Tenn. 10 Tanker has four DC 10 firebombers, including Smithley, that are contracted to the Forest Service.
“The forest service does not own any firefighting aircraft,” he said. “They contract out various companies to provide airplanes and cruise to fly fire duty and drop fire retardant when needed.”
Fire season
Though Smithley has worked fires around the world that are much larger, he said this situation is unprecedented. The Los Angeles wildfires have torn through more than 38,000 acres.
“This is a tough one because of the devastation that occurred,” he said. “I’ve worked fires that are 400,000 acres, but we didn’t have the structure loss that we had on this because it’s in such a densely populated area.”
Fire season for 10 Tanker usually runs from March until October or November under contract of the U.S. Forest Service, Smithley said.
"(We) just sit on duty like you would at a regular fire ground station,” he said. “They kind of tell us where we’re going, and they give us information on the fire, and we load retardant fuel and go to it.”
The team picks up the airplanes in March and heads to work, typically starting the year in Arizona and New Mexico and heading northwest to Idaho, Colorado, Washington and California, Smithley said. They normally have a two-weeks-on, one-week-off rotation during the season.
“I’ve never flown fire — and I don’t think the company has — in January in the United States ever” since 10 Tanker started operations in 2006, he said.
Once he learned his expertise would be needed in Los Angeles, Smithley said, he dropped what he was doing and headed out west.
“Bringing a crew from around the country in to work a cataclysmic event like this, it’s gratifying to see the team pull together in the offseason and be able to mobilize a dozen air tankers really in pretty rapid fashion to get out here and help California,” he said.
Smithley’s first look at the fire was when he flew over Malibu, and he said it was difficult mentally to see the devastation of hundreds of structures.
“Just smoldering ruins ... it’s just gone,” he said. “That’s difficult to look at from the air and see the ... lives that have been turned upside down.”
Though there aren’t active flames anymore, Smithley said he and the aerial fire team is still in the area.
“We’re basically done with this fire at this point, unless it blows up,” he said. “Just pockets of flame here and there.”
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