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Over the next hour, the full forces of Mount Hood Aviation were pulled in and focused on this latest version of the Tillamook Burn.
Carly kept Steve hopping, trying to have his drone be everywhere at once. All other craft, each at their designated altitude, circled above the fire in a clockwise pattern. Air Attack, the actual runs of retardant or foam, was the lowest layer. Above them in a stack were helicopters, then the air tankers, and finally the Incident Commander – Air in his spotter plane.
Occasionally Rick, as Incident Commander, flew up at Henderson’s level. But he spent most of his time on the ground in Hillsboro where a crisis center had been driven in and set up. An array of screens fed him everything from Steve’s imagery to satellite feeds and weather channels. He’d also
