Westmoreland County pilot, Captain R.K. Smithley helping battle California wildfires
LIGONIER, Pa. (KDKA) - California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Thursday to fast-track temporary housing for those displaced by the Los Angeles wildfires.
That order was signed as crews continued to fight the flames from the ground and the air and one of those pilots fighting the flames is from Ligonier.
There's an old saying that there are bold pilots and there are old pilots, but there are no old bold pilots and while he's not old, what Capt. R.K. Smithley can do with a jumbo jet, which certainly qualifies him as bold.
"We get into runs when you say, 'Oh boy, this is going to be a good one to keep your eyes open and focus,'" he said.
The 65-year-old Smithley has been piloting the largest water bomber in the effort to quench the devastating flames devouring everything out west. His job description is as follows:
"Dropping 85,000 pounds, 9,400 gallons of fire retardant at 250 feet, doing 170 miles per hour, and flying it like a fighter, but that's what we do," Capt. Smithley said.
While he now fights fires from above, his efforts started as a volunteer firefighter locally.
"I kind of come full circle from Darlington to Ligonier flying over fires in 10Tanker," he said.
Affectionally called "Big Juicy" by firefighters on the ground, Capt. Smithley's flown around the globe to knock out fires.
"All over the western U.S., as well as Australia, Chile, Mexico, we go all over the place," he said.
It's important to remember that Capt. Smithley and his crew don't just make one run and call it a day, he said it's basically a NASCAR pit stop on these planes and that takes all of 17-20 minutes. They do that up to 10 times per day, each time flying over places that now look like war-torn cities.
"It's difficult," he said. "It's very difficult to fly over literally thousands of houses that are just foundations, garages, sheds, and it's not lost on us the turmoil and the devastation."
In case you're wondering about the red stuff that comes out of the plane, sometimes it lands on homes but Capt. Smithley said that they can powerwash it off and it's environmentally friendly.
"It's better to have a red house from fire retardant than a black one by a burned fire," he said.
Capt. Smithley's son Garrett races stock cars on the NASCAR Infinity Circuit so facing danger is in their family's blood. Fear, however, is not.
"We don't get scared on drops because this is what we do," Capt. Smithley said. "If you are scared, you are in the wrong business."
