Fire Boss SEAT Exclusive-Use Basing at Dallesport

Buyer: Washington State Department of Natural Resources

Awardee

Coastal Air Strike source ↗

Details

Two Fire Boss single-engine air tankers contracted with Washington DNR and based at Dallesport Airport for a third consecutive season as of the 2019 fire season (first aircraft arriving June 1, second by July 1), with Tacaero as the fixed base operator handling ground operations. WA DNR holds first-priority access, but per the FBO the aircraft also respond to federal, BLM, Oregon and Washington dispatch — so the 'exclusive-use' framing in the title is not supported by the source. The source article names no aircraft operator; Coastal Air Strike is a plausible but inferred attribution, based on separate reporting that the company operated Fire Boss aircraft in the Columbia Gorge and had held prior Washington DNR contracts before its first Oregon Department of Forestry contract in summer 2021. No contract value or term is published.

This was a seasonal exclusive-use basing arrangement for the 2019 fire season and expired with that season. Washington DNR re-lets its aviation and equipment capacity every year through its pre-season agreement solicitations, so there is no standing successor contract to name — the Dallesport Fire Boss basing is re-competed annually. Coastal Air Strike remains an operating aerial-firefighting company.

Source

Official solicitation / award →