Fireboss News

Wipaire “Fire Boss” Federally Carded 4-19-08

Wipaire of South Saint Paul, Minnesota would like to announce federal approval of their 802 Air Tractor “Fire Boss” as a certified fire fighting, water scooping aircraft.  The 802 “Fire Boss” is now certified to fight wild land fires on any federally owned or managed land in the United States.

The Wipaire “Fire Boss” aircraft has been operating for the last six years on fire fighting contracts in Canada and Europe.  There are currently six “Fire Boss” aircraft operating in Canada and twenty-three aircraft operating in Europe, including Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy.  For the last two years, the “Fire Boss” has also operated on state contracts in Minnesota as well, protecting the public and its properties from the devastating affects of wild land fires.  The “Fire Boss” can now operate as an initial fire attack aircraft on federal, state and private lands to protect public lands and people as well as private property from forest fires.

The premier advantage of the Air Tractor 802 “Fire Boss” over other contemporary water scooping aircraft is its comparatively inexpensive procurement and operating costs.  While being inexpensive to purchase and operate, it still provides critical initial attack fire fighting capability in that it can scoop 800 US gallons of water in 12 seconds with a single pilot and very simple maintenance requirements with the added reliability of the Pratt and Whitney PT-6 Turbine Engine.  This new technology aircraft provides the fire fighting industry with a most effective aircraft of excellent dispatch reliability.  For more information on this excellent water scooping fire attack tool, contact Wipaire customer service at 651-451-1205 or Fire Boss, LLC at info@firebossllc.com

South St. Paul, Minnesota

November 28, 2007

We are currently pursuing an engine conversion for the Air Tractor 802F Air Tanker upgrading the PT6-67AG to a 1600HP PT6-67F.   When the testing and certification is complete, we hope to have an aerial fire fighting tool whose performance and capacity can compete with much larger tankers and helicopters, but at a fraction of the cost. 

We’ll be adding more information soon, so please check back again in a few days!

Las Vegas, Nevada
Fire Rescue Expo - November 9, 2006

Fire Boss LLC Announces America's First 'Seat' Rated Fire Boss Pilots.

This weekend on a sun dappled lake in Minnesota another fire fighting milestone was reached. America's first Single Engine Attack Tanker (SEAT Carded) pilots received their flight training and check rides in the Fire Boss, an innovative fire fighting aircraft made in America.
Based on the Air Tractor AT-802F airframe the Fire Boss is the result of years of design, testing and now global operations with a track record unequalled in fighting the wildland/urban interface fires.

Combining the benefits of amphibious floats with a unique scooping system this aircraft can reload on-the-fly with up to 820 gallons of water in less than 14 seconds. Chief Pilot and Training Director Mark Mathisen says, "This delivers cycle times and gallons per hour quantities far exceeding other aircraft at a fraction of the cost, both in acquisition and operating expense."

Operating from nearby lakes, rivers, or fire bases, the Fire Boss provides a new approach to the critical initial attack phase of spotting and stopping fires at their early stages. According to Fire Boss Product Manager Stan Ross, "What we have learned in the past few years throughout Europe and Canada has brought new insights into how we can attack wildland fires early and more importantly, how we can provide a potential life saving tool to support ground based fire crews when these fires grow into killers."

"We see the ultimate role of the Fire Boss as an orbiting rescue platform that can be called in at a moments notice to prevent loss of life when winds shift and ground crews are cut off from their escape routes We never want to hear of another fire fighter sacrificing their life when we have the ideal tool available to prevent it."

Fire Boss, LLC serves the global aviation industry through a strategic relationship with Wipaire, Inc. the world's foremost manufacturer of aircraft floats and designers of FIRE BOSS, a unique single engine attack tanker built to fight forest and wildland/urban interface fires. Capable of rapid cycle times carrying over 800 gallons per cycle this innovative amphibious aircraft incorporates a scooping system to collect a full water loads from lakes or rivers in less than fourteen seconds. With airspeeds of 150 mph the FIRE BOSS delivers superior fire fighting capacity unequalled by aircraft costing twenty times it's $2.5 million acquisition cost.


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