Forest Service hires more air tankers for fires
BELLVUE — The U.S. Forest Service says it is adding more aircraft to its aerial firefighting fleet to help battle wildfires in the West.
Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell said Monday the service is contracting one air tanker from the state of Alaska and four from Canada. Two more air tankers are being activated in California.
Tidwell says the temporary additions will make 17 air tankers available to the Forest Service.
The service has deployed 10 air tankers, 62 helicopters and 4,000 personnel to more than 100 fires nationwide, including large fires in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico.
A fan holds images of pop starJustin Bieber in Mexico City’s main historic plaza, the Zocalo, Sunday, June 10, 2012. The Beliebers have arrived in the chaotic streets of Mexico City, adolescents in purple and white and braving two nights on roach-infested sidewalks for a chance to be closest to the stage when teenage superstar Justin Bieber puts on a free concert Monday evening on the capital’s vast central plaza. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) Photo by STR