Spatial dynamic queueing models for the daily deployment of airtankers for forest fire control

Each day regional fire duty officers must decide how many airtankers to acquire and where to deploy them to minimize their initial attack response time. We developed three mathematical initial attack airtanker system models that capture important aspects of real airtanker systems. These models can be used to assess the time-dependent performance of an initial attack airtanker system in terms of response time throughout the day. We then developed more realistic simulation models that were used to assess the accuracy of the mathematical models. We also developed deployment heuristics that fire managers can use to obtain pragmatic solutions to daily airtanker deployment problems. Our models provide novel insight into the forms of dispatch policies that fire managers can use to develop effective daily airtanker deployment strategies.