Camden Municipal Airport

09/22/2026

🚁 SEVEN DAYS. ABOUT 360,000 GALLONS FROM THE SKY. A COMMUNITY THAT SHOWED UP.

As Camden Municipal Airport wraps up its Bunker Fire support, the numbers tell the story:

💧 About 325,000 gallons of water delivered by air.

🚁 9 Black Hawks, 2 Chinooks, and 3 Air Tractors supported the response, alongside large airtankers and Air Attack coordination aircraft.

🔥 About 33,400 gallons of retardant across nine large-airtanker missions—including the massive DC-10, capable of carrying 9,400 gallons in one load!

🛩️ 100+ aircraft hours supporting the response.

⛽ 20,841 gallons of fuel supplied by our airport.

🤝 Roughly 250 volunteer hours, plus additional time keeping crews fed and supplied. From early mornings into the evening, our airport ground support was powered entirely by volunteers.

Our visiting Chinooks alone delivered 145 water drops:
🇺🇸 Oklahoma’s Red River 11: 97 drops—about 128,000 gallons.
🇺🇸 Mississippi’s Gypsy 14: 48 drops—about 77,000 gallons.

Those drops supported firefighters and helped keep the fire from restarting.

Thank you to the Arkansas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma National Guard crews, Forestry teams, private aviation crews, firefighters, local businesses, and neighbors who made this possible.

This is our final Bunker Fire update. To everyone who flew, fought fire, fueled aircraft, cooked, delivered, or gave their time: you helped protect this community, and Camden will remember it.

Thank you for showing up. 🇺🇸

09/21/2026

🚁💧 Thank you, Gypsy 14—and Red River 11 is staying with us!

The Mississippi National Guard’s Gypsy 14 Chinook crew came from Meridian to help our community during the Bunker Fire response. They arrived Thursday evening, September 17, and headed home this morning, Sunday, September 20.

During their stay, Gypsy’s recorded work included four water-drop missions, 9.3 mission hours, and 48 bucket drops—an estimated 76,800 gallons of water helping keep the fire from restarting! Our airport volunteers supplied their aircraft with 3,910 gallons of Jet A. To the entire Gypsy 14 crew: thank you for your hard work and for spending time away from home to help protect our neighbors. Camden appreciates you. Safe travels home!

Oklahoma National Guard’s Red River 11, pictured here, will remain with us another day or two. Today alone, their crew logged 5.2 hours and 34 bucket drops, delivering an estimated 44,880 gallons of water. Our volunteers supplied 1,802 gallons of Jet A to support their work.

Thank you to both crews, the firefighters and forestry personnel on the ground, and the volunteers keeping Camden Municipal Airport ready to support them. Our community is grateful for every one of you! 🇺🇸

09/20/2026

🚁 Another busy day supporting the Bunker Fire response at Camden Municipal Airport!

Today, the Mississippi and Oklahoma National Guard Chinook crews completed 59 bucket drops, delivering an estimated 83,200 gallons of water to help keep the fire from restarting. Keeping those areas wet is an important part of the work after the flames die down.

💧 Mississippi’s Gypsy 14: 19 drops — approximately 30,400 gallons
💧 Oklahoma’s Red River 11: 40 drops — approximately 52,800 gallons
⛽ Fuel dispensed to the two Chinooks today: 3,487 gallons

Behind those numbers are long hours, skilled crews, and a lot of teamwork. Thank you to our visiting aircrews, Forestry personnel, firefighters on the ground, and airport volunteers who keep this effort moving.

A big thank-you to Sean Hoss for treating our guys to a fish fry! After a long day, a good meal and a warm welcome mean a lot.

We also want to recognize Jerry Langley, owner of RATS Atv & Off-Road Park llc., for his hospitality and for personally giving us a tour of his impressive park. Jerry was also the person we called when our airport fuel supply was running low. We appreciate having people like him we can turn to when the pressure is on.

These crews are showing up for our community, and our community is showing up for them. 🇺🇸

09/19/2026

🚁 97 drops and an estimated 103,040 gallons of water!

That’s what the four National Guard helicopters supporting the Bunker Fire recorded today—helping firefighters on the ground protect our neighbors and communities.

Two Arkansas National Guard Black Hawks, the Mississippi National Guard Chinook from Meridian, and the Oklahoma National Guard Chinook brought some serious water-dropping power. The two Chinooks alone accounted for an estimated 75,440 gallons! 💧

A privately owned Black Hawk working under contract with the Arkansas Forestry Division also supported the effort. Its work is additional to the National Guard totals above.

Keeping these aircraft flying takes plenty of fuel. Camden Municipal Airport supplied 4,786 gallons of Jet A to the National Guard aircraft today.

Behind the scenes, airport support is provided entirely by volunteers, helping keep fuel and ground support moving throughout the day.

Thank you to the aircrews, ground firefighters, forestry teams, and volunteers working together on this response. We’re proud to help support the people working to protect our community. 🇺🇸

09/18/2026

Back to work!

09/18/2026

🚁 THE HEAT IS TURNING UP—AND REINFORCEMENTS HAVE ARRIVED!

Some BIG help arrived at Camden Municipal Airport tonight! This CH-47 Chinook and its Mississippi National Guard crew came from Meridian, Mississippi, to help put more water on the Bunker Fire. An Oklahoma National Guard Chinook is expected tomorrow to add even more lifting power.

These big boys use lots of fuel—and they can drop lots of water! 💧

CH-47 Chinooks can carry a massive 2,000-gallon Bambi Bucket—that’s more than EIGHT TONS of water when full! The bucket hangs beneath the helicopter, allowing crews to scoop water and deliver it where firefighters need it.

The extra support comes at a critical time. An exceptionally strong heat dome is keeping Arkansas unusually hot while drier air moves into the region. Camden is forecast to reach about 100°F Friday and 99°F Saturday. The National Weather Service warns that falling afternoon humidity and already dry vegetation could make fire behavior more aggressive this weekend.

That is why getting more water-dropping capability here now matters.

Our airport volunteers kept another busy day moving, providing fuel and ground support for National Guard Black Hawks, a privately owned Black Hawk contracted by the Arkansas Forestry Division, and the newly arrived Chinook.

Here’s a look at today and the work ahead:

⛽ Approximately 3,470 gallons of Jet A supplied to helicopters supporting the response
🔥 The Bunker Fire was reported at 75% containment today
🚛 Another fuel delivery expected tomorrow morning to help keep these crews flying

A huge thank-you to the Arkansas and Mississippi National Guard crews, Arkansas Forestry Division, contracted aviation crews, firefighters, incident command, fuel suppliers, delivery partners, and everyone helping feed and support the responders. We look forward to welcoming the Oklahoma crew tomorrow.

And a special thank-you to our airport volunteers, who are giving their time and hard work to help keep this effort moving.

We’re prepared to do it all again tomorrow. Camden Municipal Airport is proud to support the people protecting our community.

09/17/2026

youtube.com/-ar/live

Live camera views at Camden Municipal Airport (KCDH), Arkansas. Rot...

09/17/2026

Another busy day supporting the wildfire response at Camden Municipal Airport! 🚁

Our airport team helped keep Arkansas National Guard Black Hawk crews fueled and ready to return to the fire. We recorded Black Hawk activity under four callsigns, while two air-attack/spotter aircraft also helped monitor the fire from above.

Here’s a look at today:

⛽ 2,655 gallons of Jet A supplied to the Black Hawks
🚛 Approximately 7,500 gallons of fuel delivered this morning to replenish our supply
🚁 About 14 combined Black Hawk flight-hours recorded, including travel to and from the area
💧 We estimate the Black Hawks dropped more than 30,000 gallons of water today using their 660-gallon Bambi Buckets.

The water estimate is based on available flight tracks and full bucket capacity. The helicopters collected water near the fire, while Camden Municipal Airport provided fuel and ground support.

The Bunker Fire was reported at 65% containment today. That’s encouraging progress, and we’re grateful to everyone continuing the work on the ground and in the air.

A huge thank-you to the Arkansas National Guard, Arkansas Forestry Division, pilots and flight crews, firefighters, incident command, our fuel suppliers and delivery partners, and everyone helping behind the scenes. It takes a lot of people working together to keep these aircraft flying.

The crews even left us stickers representing their units—a special reminder of the people we’ve had the privilege of supporting.

We’re prepared to do it all again tomorrow. Our team is ready to provide the fuel and ground support these crews need as the response continues. We’re proud to serve our community from Camden Municipal Airport.