Hatton says flying the DC-10 so close to the ground – DC-10s usually fly so low only when they’re approaching an airport – is not necessarily dangerous; the tankers carry a much lighter fuel load than they would have as airliners, so they’re not as heavy and therefore able to manoeuvre more quickly. But this is anything but a routine activity; in 2007, the company’s first DC-10, Tanker 910, encountered turbulence and dropped some 200ft lower than anticipated. The plane’s wing clipped the top of the trees before the crew could pull the aircraft back to a safe height.

Jumbo fire-fighters

Hatton says the workload can be intense during a busy fire season. “We have flown as many as nine times in one day with one crew. The fires that grow to mega status have had as many as 50 of our flights to contain them, but the average is nearer five.” Pilots are restricted to no more than 14 hours on duty, even during the biggest fires, and must have at least two days off every 14 days.

Hatton says the DC-10’s ability has changed fire-fighting tactics, leading to a technique called ‘overkill’ – hitting small fires as hard as possible before they grow into bigger, more unpredictable conflagrations. “This tactic, called ‘first strike’, is being adopted by many agencies to help mitigate what is likely to be a fire-prone future in many geographical regions of the world.”

The aircraft’s large capacity makes this possible. “We developed the DC-10 to bring more quantity of suppressant to the fire in one load than any other tanker currently in use,” Hatton says. “The DC-10 is a real game changer.”

One of Hatton’s DC-10s has flown out to Australia to be used during the fire season there. And the DC-10s are no longer the biggest fire-fighters in service. In 2009, a converted Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet operated by Evergreen International has also been used to fight fires. The giant jet can carry 19,600 gallons of retardant or water for 4,000 miles, and is the biggest fire-fighting aircraft in the world. There are plans to convert an even bigger, stretched version of the 747 into a tanker as well.