Helicopters are generally dropping water to directly attack the fires, but air tankers — or fire bombers as I like to call them — are designed to carry fire retardant, which is designed to ...

Two planes important to aerial firefighting missions are air tankers, which carry and drop the fire retardant, and the lead plane, a smaller, more nimble aircraft that flies ahead. The lead plane ...

A Motorsports Hall of Famer and multiple world-speed record holder is helping quell the devastating wildfires burning in the foothills of Los Angeles, California — one air tanker drop at a time.