Most of the tankers haven’t been in use recently, as California’s wildfires have largely been brought under control. But the fleet will remain grounded until deemed safe by officials, Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, was quoted as saying.
California is one of a handful of states to maintain a fleet of firefighting planes. The S-2T tankers, which can carry up to 1,200 gallons of retardant, are old Navy aircraft retrofitted in the 1990s.
The tanker that crashed Tuesday was among a handful of aircraft fighting the 130-acre Dog Rock fire, which broke out in the afternoon on El Portal Road between the Yosemite’s boundary and the Arch Rock entrance station.
