{"id":28474,"date":"2019-08-09T22:42:04","date_gmt":"2019-08-09T22:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/08\/09\/navy-sub-killer-will-wage-war-on-wildfires\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:13:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:13:20","slug":"navy-sub-killer-will-wage-war-on-wildfires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/08\/09\/navy-sub-killer-will-wage-war-on-wildfires\/","title":{"rendered":"Navy sub killer will wage war on wildfires"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

HUTCHINSON, Kan. \u2014 A 1958 U.S. Navy plane, once used to spot enemy submarines, will now serve as the newest asset for Kansas wildfires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The privately owned twin-engine recently arrived at the Hutchinson Regional Airport <\/a>from a Nevada museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stripped of its paint and with exposed wires, Bill Garrison\u2019s Grumman S-2 Tracker looks like a death trap. But the 56-year-old owner of Ag Air Service<\/a> said the bones are solid since the plane underwent regular maintenance while fighting fires for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus, the wires are only exposed until maintenance is finished this fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took 18 months to get the plane certified with the Federal Aviation Administration and enter the first-ever “call when needed” contract with the Kansas Forest Service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will be ready to go before the spring, when Kansas has historically seen its most massive fires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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President John F. Kennedy’s visit to the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, 14 April 1962, featured \nfour S-2 “Tracker” patrol planes dropping depth charges during an anti-submarine demonstration. (National Archives)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The six largest fires in Kansas history occurred over the last 23 years. Of those, four occurred in March and two in February, The Hutchinson News reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We are really excited to have him available, and I think it will be a real benefit to the region, to south-central Kansas, as well as the rest of the state,” said Rodney Redinger, a KFS assistant fire management officer for operations and training. “It’s one of those things that we have all these plans in place and we hope to never use him.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Redinger said the contract for $4,000 an hour is based on the rate the U.S. Forest Service pays pilots elsewhere for fighting fires. The KFS and local agencies will foot the bill through a cost-share, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plane will benefit the region since the Hutchinson man can respond in minutes, compared to the couple of hours it could take the Kansas National Guard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until its deployment, the investment has all been on Garrison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garrison started his Nickerson-based crop-dusting company in 2000. He was first called to use his planes in February 2006, when a Burrton fire burned 8,800 acres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Redinger worked for the KFS then, but happened to be on the front lines as a Burrton Fire Department <\/a>volunteer. Redinger said he knew about crop dusters being used in Western Kansas to help fight fires and word spread about Garrison\u2019s business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He flew in with his 1980 Air Tractor, dumping 500 gallons at a time. Garrison said he’s helped firefighters battle flames from above about a half-dozen times in all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Redinger said the Burrton drops went in areas firefighters couldn’t go, where a structure was at risk. The building survived, but Redinger’s not sure he can fully credit the aerial assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Redinger said the 125 mph fly-bys dropping hundreds of gallons “take the punch” out of the flame, knocking flames 50-plus feet in length down to 20 feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know that happened quite a bit on the Highlands Fire,\u201d Redinger said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t