Meet California's mobile air traffic controller
Titus "Stretch" Gall is gearing up for another long wildfire season in California.
The state's drought emergency is worsening and the fires have already sparked in multiple locations.
And this is his answer: he's the president of Tower Tech Inc., and designed these mobile air-traffic control towers, mounted on a trailer, to help manage the airspace over the fires.
His three towers are contracted to government forestry and fire-protection agencies, and can set up within 24 hours.
"They need to come and go as quickly and efficiently as they can. So we have to put forth the effort to make that happen. So, yes, there is some urgency to the work, but it's always got to stay safe, you know? I mean, that's why we're there: to keep to keep airplanes apart. So everybody needs to come and go. And they and they will, but they'll do it safely."
Gall was an air traffic controller for the Navy and the FAA, who retired only to start his own business five days later.
He fulfills a unique role, sometimes close to the frontline but usually right on the runway.
Inside the towers, everything is set up for his employees' comfort: a refrigerator, freezer, shower and toilet, as well as a television and DVDs for entertainment.
The job has its rewards, he says, but this is a serious business.
"I'm 72 years old and I'm still thrilled to talk to airplanes. It makes me feel great. And people... if we go to a briefing at CalFire and we have a particularly busy day and the briefing in the morning and all of a sudden one of the tanker pilots will stand up and say, 'Man, thank...thank the tower for being here. Man, you guys did a great job yesterday.' You can imagine that that makes you feel good because this is not a game."
As of May, California authorities had documented more than a thousand more wildfires so far this year than had erupted by the same point in 2020.
Last year's wildfire season was the worst on record, with colossal damage and at least 33 lives lost.
