Thanks in part to last week’s storm, Grass Valley Air Attack Base is closing for the season. The tankers departed this morning (Monday) for McClellan Air Field, where they will undergo maintenance until they are needed next summer. Base Commander CalFire Battalion Chief Jake Sjolund (SHO-lund) says this is actually normal…

Listen to Jake Sjolund 1

Last year, the base was open into November because of the extreme fire danger. Sjolund says the Chico Air Attack Base will stay open for another week or two, but that’s now the only base still open in northern California. As for the Grass Valley Base, even though the planes are gone, there’s still a lot of work to do…

Listen to Jake Sjolund 2

Sjolund says the planes weren’t needed as much this year because of more agressive ground attack on small fires. There were fewer fires locally this year than last, but more fires than last year statewide. The air tankers are scheduled to return somewhere around June 15 of next year.