The Global SuperTanker, the world’s largest firefighting airplane, is heading to Redding to help battle the Carr Fire. Once able to hold 600 passengers, the retired Boeing 747 aircraft has been converted into one of California’s most essential firefighting tools.
The plane now carries up to 19,000 gallons of water or retardant — those red distinctive red streaks cutting through smoky skies — and can fly at speeds up to 600 mph. The SuperTanker, which aided with California fires in August of 2017, now turns to face the blazes and the “fire tornadoes” — the result of intense winds meeting the fierce flames — that have been whipping through Redding.
Photographer Matthew Henderson braodcast overnight a facebook live video of wind-whipped 100-foot flames devouring brush, hopping across roads and burning homes to the ground in Redding, California.
Media: Copyright Matthew Henderson – used by permission
This fire began on July 23, and was sparked by a mechanical failure of a vehicle. It tore through two small Northern California communities before reaching Redding, the largest city in the region with a population of about 92,000 people.
Source: World’s largest firefighting airplane heads to Redding to help fight the Carr blazes – SFGate