PUEBLO, COLO. -- This year the region has already had a few major wildfires due to the warm, dry and windy weather. The Forest Service is making preparations for a potentially active fire weather season.

When wildfires get out of control, air crews are often called in to drop fire retardant. The Forest Service has several tankers that can do this.

One place the tankers can reload is at Pueblo's airport. Reloading here saves valuable time while fighting fires.

The reloading base has opened the earliest it has since 1994. Crews can refill any size tanker with up to 3,000 gallons of retardant.

The airport's extra long landing strip allows the tanker traffic to land and lift off safely.