Rising Fuel Costs and Potential Shortages Threaten Aerial Firefighting Operations

In the summer of 2021, five "Fire Boss" airplanes skimmed the surface of a lake. They belonged to aerial firefighting company Dauntless Air, and they were helping fight a wildfire in Washington state.

CEO Brett L'Esperance described the planes this way: "So if you've ever seen Planes 2, this is Dusty Crophopper."

In a video of the maneuver shared by Dauntless Air, the single-engine aircraft roar across the water one by one, filling their twin pontoons with water.

While the U.S. government is in charge of fighting most big wildfires, nearly all the 500 or so aircraft they use are privately owned by contractors like Dauntless.

Last year, those planes burned through about $50 million worth of jet fuel. Every fire season is different, but if this year is the same as last season, that fuel bill would almost double to nearly $100 million. That's because the price of jet fuel has skyrocketed since the war in Iran began in late February. Ultimately, taxpayers will be the ones to shell out tens of millions of dollars more to fight summer wildfires this year.

Willis Curdy, a retired firefighting-aircraft pilot, said planes are often pushed to their limits.

"This is not like getting in a 737 and going to 33,000 feet," Curdy said.

Curdy, who spent nearly 40 years fighting wildfires, said the advanced maneuvers that pilots use come at a high cost.

"You're asking for a lot of power, a lot of [additional] fuel consumption than you would if you're high, just gliding through the air," he said.

Most aerial firefighting companies have contracts that allow them to pass along higher fuel prices to U.S. taxpayers.

The U.S. Forest Service, the federal agency in charge of fighting most big wildfires in the United States, declined NPR's request for an interview for this story.

In emailed statements, officials said the Forest Service has budgeted $45 million for fire aviation fuel this year. That's $7 million less than it spent last year.

"Yeah, I think that budget's going to change," Curdy said with a laugh.

Last year's fuel bill was slightly above the six-year average. This year, several Western states had very dry to record-dry winters, setting them up for a potentially catastrophic wildfire season.

L'Esperance, Dauntless Air, said he's less worried about fuel prices than the potential for shortages of jet fuel.

"That's what's keeping me up at night," he said.

L'Esperance has his eye on oil imports heading into California, where most of the jet fuel used across the West is refined. The California Energy Commission is reporting the lowest stock of jet fuel at refineries in more than two years.

The American Petroleum Institute says the state is more reliant on imported oil than the rest of the country — imports that have stalled due to the war in Iran.

"When things get really, really busy and scary in that late June, July, August and September time frame, if we don't have the fuel to respond, we just can't respond," L'Esperance said.

The Forest Service has not responded to NPR's questions about whether it expects a shortage this year of fuel for firefighting aircraft. But the agency told NPR it has the flexibility to spend more if it needs to.