The crew members of an air tanker who died in a crash near Reno helped fight the 2007 Zaca Fire in Santa Barbara County and the more recent Tepusquet Canyon brush fires in August, and their deaths have touched a nerve in the local firefighting community.

Air Tanker 09 Captain Calvin “Gene” Wahlstrom, 61, First Officer Greg “Gonzo” Gonsioroski, 41, and Zachary Vander Griend, 25, died Sept. 1 while trying to drop fire retardant on a California fire.

At the Santa Maria Air Attack Base, employees are still mourning.

“There’s not a lot of air tankers out there and there’s not a lot of pilots. Everybody knows each other real well,” Air Attack Supervisor Mark Nunez said.

Air Tanker 09 — a twin-engine

P-2V owned by Missoula, Montana-based Neptune Aviation — crashed Sept. 1 at 6:09 p.m., mere minutes after takeoff from the Reno-Stead Airport.

Shortly after its return to Reno-Stead from fighting the Hope Fire, near Lake Tahoe, Air Tanker 09 was dispatched to drop fire retardant on the Smitty Fire in Westpoint, Calif.

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The mission was canceled soon after takeoff, officials said, but it’s unclear whether the crew of the 09 ever got word of the cancellation.

Investigators said they are still working to determine the exact cause of the crash, however, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, it appears that the plane’s engine may have failed just before the crash.

A conclusive report will not be available for several months.

Wahlstrom, a native of Huntsville, Utah, who also held the title of chief pilot for Neptune Aviation, began his 35-year professional flying career as a crop duster.

He became a familiar face around the Santa Maria Air Attack Base (SMAAB) when he was stationed there for several months during the Zaca Fire.

“He was just a warm, caring person and he just was always willing if you needed a hand to lend a hand. He was very appreciative” SMAAB Manager Sheryl Woods said.

Woods first met Wahlstrom in 1990 when Wahlstrom worked for the Forest Service and was stationed at the Santa Barbara Air Attack Base.

Gonsioroski, a Montana resident, had worked for Neptune for 15 years, where he began his career as a mechanic before obtaining his pilot’s license.

At the time of his death, Gonsioroski was “well on his way” to becoming an air tanker captain, according to Neptune.

But Gonsioroski, a father of three young children, primarily defined himself as a family man.

“He was really into his family. Every time you talked to him, he was always talking about his family,” Nunez said.

Though Vander Griend, also of Montana, had been a member of the Air Tanker 09 crew for only about 90 days, he still made a big impression on those he met at the SMAAB during the Tepusquet Canyon brush fires in mid-August.

“I knew he was a pilot and he wanted to some day actually be an air tanker captain,” Nunez said. “He was always full of energy. He was always checking things. Checking with the pilots to see if they needed anything. Just real happy to meet everybody around him.”

For the time being, the air community will grieve its loss.

“We all pretty much do the same thing. It’s a big loss for the air community, period. We all feel it,” Woods said.

Natalie Ragus can be reached at 347-4580 or nragus@santamariatimes.com.

September 13, 2008