This is a picture of the lead air attack aircraft my brother pilots for a wild land firefighting contractor in Arizona. The active season starts about May through September. However, he was called back to fight the fires in southern California this week. I talked to him this morning after the briefing and he reported that they were "smoked in" and couldn't fly today until the smoke dissipates.

Lead air attack leads the fire bombers into the drop zones and orbits the zone while the bombers drop loads of fire retardant. Mid-air collisions are a very real danger in low visibility at a fire scene. My brother said they were fighting four separate fires, but the Santana winds had quit so they expected to wrap the fires up in about a week. He's based out of an old Air Force base in San Bernadino and reports that there's devastation everywhere--huge homes reduced to ashes, people living in stadiums and other locations.

Let's hold dear in our hearts the safety of all on the ground and in the air in
California.

Mmmmmmmmelinda