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Every summer CAL FIRE'S 23 Airtankers help firefighters on the ground
contain wildfires across California.
But to keep those Airtankers running safely and effectively,
CAL FIRE'S planes are brought to the department's aviation headquarters at McClellan Park
in Sacramento County to undergo a through maintenance and inspection process.
We do a complete engine run, once the aircraft gets back here,
to make sure the engine is in proper working condition.
We check all the flight controls, the landing gear.
All the major components to make sure they have not worn out or in proper working order,
when we release them for the fire season.
Nearly 100 mechanics and aviation experts worked tirelessly all winter
to ready the planes for summer.
The aircrafts are put through a rigorous safety inspection review and routine maintenance.
Every year, they come back here for a 400 hour inspection,
which has to be completed every 12 calendar months.
The aircrafts are on a standard maintenance schedule to ensure aircraft availability,
especially now when fire season is year round in many parts of the state.
It is CAL FIRE'S strict maintenance policy that has kept safety a priority
for the state's fire fighting air fleet.
We operate the safest and the best fire fighting aircraft in the world.
Last week, CAL FIRE moved 6 of it's airtankers back to Southern California
during a period of heightened fire danger.
Residents of the rest of the state can expect to see the airtankers return to their local bases,
when the fire dangers increases sometime in May or June.
For now though, these airtankers will remain here at McClellan, preparing for what could be
a busy fire season.
From the CAL FIRE aviation headquarters at McClellan Park in Sacramento County,
Daniel Berlant, CAL FIRE TV.