Ramona Air Attack Base Tour

November 11, 2006

History
Ramona Air Attack Base was established in 1957. It is the oldest permanent aerial fire fighting base in the United States and one of the most active. The base is operated by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Cleveland National Forest.

Retardant Mixing Station
This base has a storage tank that holds 52,000 gallons of retardant. Air tankers can be loaded at 500 gallons per minute. Medium sized air tankers like the Grumman S-2 Tracker can be loaded in less than three minutes whereas large tankers such as the Douglas DC-4 or C-130 Hercules can take up to six minutes to load. The base is capable of mixing and delivering 280,000 gallons per day with a maximum of 50,000 gallons per hour.

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