Improved aerial firefighting base opens in north-central Wyoming

BUFFALO — Federal and state firefighting agencies on Friday unveiled a new aerial firefighting base in Casper, a centrally located resource created to benefit all of Wyoming heading into what is expected to be a busy fire season.

Amping up aerial firefighting capabilities out of the base at the Casper-Natrona County International Airport has been an interagency effort, involving the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service and Wyoming State Forestry. 

The single engine airtanker – or SEAT – base first opened in 2020, and the BLM has since then prioritized projects to upgrade these bases nationwide as fire seasons progress into what firefighters now consider fire years, said Craig Short, Bureau of Land Management fire management officer for the High Plains District, which includes Johnson County.

“We see longer seasons, larger, more destructive fires that drastically damage watersheds, ecosystems, critical species and infrastructure, as well as threaten our communities and, often, our livelihoods,” he told attendees at a ribbon cutting for the facility.

The new base cost $6.2 million, funded by the Forest Service, which contributed $2 million to support large air tankers, and $4.2 million from the BLM. Wyoming State Forestry is also in the process of building a helitack base that will support firefighting helicopters.

Mark Haines, chief of Powder River Fire District in southern Johnson County, said aerial resources are critical in his jurisdiction with its remote terrain.

“If it’s in the mountains, our time to go up the mountain to attack a fire – being that a roadless area is 95% of our coverage – these will help check a fire until we can get crews or engines on a fire,” he said. “They’re essential for us.”

Two new SEATs held up a red ribbon that officials cut to unveil the base at Casper’s airport. These aircraft can hold up to 800 gallons of fire retardant or water that aids fire crews on the ground in suppression efforts.

The new base also supports large air tankers that can hold between 2,000 and 4,000 gallons of fire retardant or water, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Speakers at the grand opening lauded the base’s central location, which is expected to aid firefighting efforts across Wyoming and in nearby states. 

J.D. Petty, Powder River Fire District assistant chief, agreed.

The average response time of these aircrafts is roughly an hour, according to the BLM.

“The central location is going to save the turnaround time for the whole state,” Petty said.

At a Wyoming wildfire season briefing at the end of May, Wyoming State Forester Kelly Norris said that agencies expect an uptick in fire activity in late summer and early fall as fuels dry out in both grassland and mountain landscapes. And northern Wyoming is currently the driest area in the state, she said.

Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso spoke at the event, praising the Cowboy State’s fire and forest management tactics and its firefighters for their work.

“There are a lot of wonderful things going on all across Wyoming, and this is what’s leading the pack in terms of what’s really important for the folks who live here,” Barrasso said of the new base.