WESTMORELAND COUNTY PILOT HELPING BATTLE CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES

A Westmoreland County pilot is out in California right now helping to battle the wildfires.  Captain R.K. Smithley is assisting firefighters on the ground by making runs to drop flame retardant from his large DC-10 Air Tanker.  Smithley says it takes focus to fly at about 170 miles per hour, roughly 250 feet off the ground, dropping 85-thousand pounds of the chemicals.  He and his crew are making about ten of those runs each day as they and many others work to get the devastating fires under control.