Why are those agencies not actively examining the use of firefighting tanker aircraft in CA to gain precious data? There are active brushfires every day up and down the state, and the pair of Tanker10 DC-10 aircraft have been flying from county to county laying down retardant lines. The tactical use of the DC-10 appears to be for creating mile long fronts along which the hand crews can come in to establish containment, not to quench the flames. Seems to be working well to defend many CA communities menaced by these fires. It would seem also that the 747 could play that same role, but do it twice as long due to it carrying more than twice the payload of the DC-10.