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    Back to The 805

    The 805

    What it's like to fly planes into the Thomas Fire

    At the Air Tanker Base in Santa Maria, air crews fighting the Thomas Fire reload their planes with fire retardant before heading back to the blaze. In addition to 3 million gallons of water, nearly 3 million gallons of retardant has been dropped on the flames so far. We meet the people in charge of refueling and flying those planes.

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    By Jonathan Bastian • Dec 21, 2017 • 1 min read

    At the Air Tanker Base in Santa Maria, air crews fighting the Thomas Fire reload their planes with fire retardant before heading back to the blaze. In addition to 3 million gallons of water, nearly 3 million gallons of retardant has been dropped on the flames so far. We meet the people in charge of refueling and flying those planes.

    Pilot Delbert Hunt shows us his MD-87 jet, which he flies above the Thomas Fire to drop retardant on the flames. (Larry Perel)

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Jonathan Bastian

      Host, Life Examined

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Larry Perel

      Host, All Things Considered

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Kathryn Barnes

      Producer, Reporter

      NewsCentral Coast
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