DC-10

Very Large Air Tanker

DC-10

Specifications: Cruise Speed: 600 mph
Gallon Capacity: 12,000
Manufacturer: McDonnell Douglas
Crew: Pilot, Co-pilot and Flight Engineer

Original Owner

Originally delivered as a civil passenger plane to National Airlines in 1975, it subsequently flew for Pan Am, American Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Omni International.

Acquiring/Contracting

In 2006, the aircraft was operated on a limited evaluation contract from the State of California. In 2006, it was offered on a "call-when-needed" basis. Governor Schwarzenegger authorized a contract for exclusive use of the aircraft for the 2007-2009 fire seasons.

Mission

The DC-10 is the only wide-body jet air tanker currently in the fire service. The aircraft, operated by 10 Tanker Air Carrier, is used for fighting wildfires, typically in rural settings. The turbofan-powered craft carries up to 12,000 gallons of fire retardant in an exterior belly mounted tank, which can be released in eight seconds. This aircraft will not be used on all fires, and will not be used on initial attack. It is utilized in extended attack fires as it is limited in time effectiveness for reloading fire retardant as well as its need to reload and refuel at an equipped aerial firefighting base (currently Victorville and McClellan are the only bases in California serviceable for this large an aircraft). One drop for the DC-10 is equivalent to 12 drops of an S2-T or a line of retardant that is 300 feet wide by one mile in length.

SBC Radio Channels

Command Channel Frequency

Tactical Channel Frequency

  • Command 1 (Dispatch) 153.770

  • Tactical 7 155.595

  • Command 2 153.905

  • Tactical 8 154.845

  • Command 3 153.980

  • Tactical 9 154. 650

  • Command 4 156.135

  • Tactical 10 155.640

  • Command 5 154.875

  • CDF/Tactical 11 151.445

  • Command 6 150.995

  • Tactical 12 153.830

  • Tactical 13 154.190

  • CDF/Tactical 14 151.190

  • Tactical 15 155.970

  • CALCORD 156.075

Incident Management Team (IMT)

Santa Barbara County is unique in that it has established a IMT-3 team. With cooperation from all of the fire agencies in the county along with the SB County Sheriff and California Highway Patrol. It is an “All-Risk” Type-3 Team and can respond and manage any incident such as a hazardous materials spill or vegetation fire

Santa Barbara County Operational Area

Type 3: State or Metropolitan Area Level

A standing team of trained personnel from different departments, organizations, agencies, and jurisdictions within a state or DHS Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) region, activated to support incident management at incidents that extend beyond one operational period. Type-3 IMTs will respond throughout the state or large portions of the state, depending upon State-specific laws, policies, and regulations.

Type 2: National and State Level

A federally or state-certified team; has less training, staffing and experience than Type-1 IMTs, and is typically used on smaller scale national or state incidents. There are thirty-five Type-2 IMTs currently in existence, and operate through interagency cooperation of federal, state and local land and emergency management agencies.

Type 1: National and State Level

A federally or state-certified team; is the most robust IMT with the most training and experience. Sixteen Type-1 IMTs are now in existence, and operate through interagency cooperation of federal, state and local land and emergency management agencies.

An incident management team consists of five subsystems as follows:

  • Incident command system (ICS) – an on-scene structure of management-level positions suitable for managing any incident;
  • Training – including needs identification, development, and delivery of training courses;
  • Qualifications and certification – the United States has national standards for qualifications and certification for ICS positions;
  • Publications management – the development, control, sourcing, and distribution of National Incident Management System (NIMS) publications provided by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG); and
  • Supporting technology and systems – technology and materials used to support an emergency response, such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), orthophoto mapping, National Fire Danger Rating System, remote automatic weather stations, automatic lightning detection systems, infrared technology, and communications.