“Aerial firefighting is probably the closest you’ll get to combat without being shot at.”
Gallaher grew up in an aviation family. His father was an air tanker pilot, and later, his brother became an aerial firefighter. Before joining the Army, he was a flight instructor, charter pilot and flew for the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service in support of firefighting efforts in Alaska and Washington state.
Gallaher was scheduled for deployment to Vietnam in 1972 as a helicopter pilot, but the war ended and in 1974, he went back to fighting fires. He later launched a small charter business in Washington state, worked as a corporate pilot in Houston, Texas, and then piloted for Southwest Airlines for nearly three decades.
Airline age restrictions caused Gallaher to retire from Southwest at age 65, but he returned to firefighting, flying with his younger brother for an additional five years. “I wasn’t even retired 24 hours and he was hitting me up to come help him out,” Gallaher said.
He has flown firefighting missions all over the U.S. and spent some time aerial firefighting in Australia during 2019, one of the worst wildfire seasons in the nation’s history. Much of his early firefighting training was on-the-job with his father and he prefers flying mountainous terrain for the challenge it offers.
While aerial firefighters make what appear to be breathtaking maneuvers in support of firefighting efforts, Gallaher generously credits the firefighters on the ground. “They’re the ones who do all the heavy lifting. The aerial firefighters get the glory, but we support the ground guys. Those responders run toward the fire instead of running away from it. You have to hand it to them: they are the true heroes. All you’re doing with the retardant is buying them time.”
In some fires such as the recent Southern California blazes, even retardant is not effective and the priority is to keep the fire at bay long enough to get people to safety. “Those fires have too much heat and they have wind driving them and so they’ll eventually burn right through the retardant. All you can do is get everybody out of the way and wait for a break in the weather.”
While piloting a commercial airline can have its challenges, Gallaher lights up when he describes flying a firefighting aircraft. “I think of it as exposure. When you’re up high, you don’t have a lot of exposure. But the closer you get to the ground, the more exposure you have. When you’re flying in mountainous terrains, you’re exposed to more opportunities to miscalculate or misjudge. You have to keep your head on a swivel, looking for all the ‘gotchas,’ and there’s a lot of gotchas! The thing is, until you get to where somebody’s life is in danger, you’re saving trees and homes. You don’t want to get too crazy doing that.”
There have been times, however, that Gallaher has been tasked with dropping a precise line of retardant to give firefighters on the ground time to escape.
He recalls one incident in Alaska in which the direction of a wildfire changed because of a wind shift and threatened to overrun a base camp, trapping firefighters. Planes had dropped retardant on three sides of the camp and evacuations were ongoing by helicopter. Gallaher was able to make the final retardant drop so firefighters could be evacuated in time.
Aerial firefighters always have to expect the unexpected. When they prepare for takeoff with a load of retardant, they always “arm” the drop system in case of an emergency. One time, Gallaher said, he experienced wind shear on takeoff, and lost power near the end of a runway. He already was airborne but the plane settled back down at full power and he needed to drop the load to gain height. However, a car was crossing just past the end of the runway. Had he dropped the 24,000 pounds of retardant, it would have crushed the vehicle, he said. “That car was right in front of us. It was just a couple seconds later and I punched the load off. But he was past the retardant, so it didn’t hit him. I don’t know whether he even knew.” The weight of the retardant destroyed the instrument approach antennas off the end of the runway.
While flying takes a certain amount of confidence, “way over half of being able to do anything is knowing you can,” Gallaher said. “I guess there is a dangerous element to it. But you’re controlling that and not doing stupid stuff. You want to be able to put the retardant on the ground where it will be the most effective.”
Gallaher said aerial firefighters must develop a special skill set. To make a drop, “you slow the airplane down as slow as you can get it and you’re loaded up as heavy as you can load it up. So now, you’re in a heavy airplane and flying really slow. You have to have a pretty good idea what you can do with your aircraft.”
Today, Gallaher flies his personal Cessna 182. He also helps to fly the only still operational Navy B24 (PB4Y) for a Warbird enthusiast and owner, exhibiting in air shows and conventions to promote the preservation and operation of historic aircraft.
Gallaher can describe his firefighting adventures in one succinct sentence: “Aerial firefighting is probably the closest you’ll get to combat without being shot at.”
How I Met My Wife
I met Donna [his wife of 40 years] in Houston, Texas, while she was a career flight attendant. She worked for Braniff, a number of smaller companies, and for Aramco in Saudi Arabia.
Favorite Movie
“Wyatt Earp” with Kevin Costner and “Aviator” with Leonardo DiCaprio.
Who I Admire
My father and many of the other WWII pilots.
Greatest Career Reward
Helping firefighters escape danger and saving homes.
Last Time I Danced
It was Donna’s 50th birthday party! QCBN
By Heidi Dahms Foster, QCBN
Photo Courtesy Boyd Gallaher: Boyd Gallaher with his personal Cessna 182 Skylane.
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