COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO — The world's largest aerial firefighting tanker has been unveiled in Colorado.
The "Spirit of John Muir" is a converted Boeing 747-400 jet --- a very large air tanker made specifically for fighting fires from the air.
The jet has nearly twice the capacity of the next biggest aerial tanker and is capable of delivering single or multiple drops of nearly 20-thousand gallons of water or fire retardant.
Its home-base will be at the Colorado Springs airport but officials say the jet can be called to fight fires anywhere in the western US and be there in less than three hours.
It can also fly anywhere in the world in under 20-hours.