There is a page on wiki about the fire bomber crashes of 2002 and timeline immediately following:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Unit ... er_crashes "Following the two crashes, the USFS and the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) jointly established an independent blue ribbon panel "to investigate issues associated with aerial wild land firefighting in the United States. In March, 2003, the panel released its report...
"The Report identified various concerns about aircraft safety, including the airworthiness of aircraft that were operating outside of their original intended design and the appropriate levels of maintenance and training to ensure safe operations. The report also identified a lack of training in contemporary aviation management areas that has contributed to an unacceptable accident rate"
As a result of the panel's recommendations, the USFS and BLM declined to renew the leases on nine C-130A and PB4Y-2 airtankers, and ordered the 33 remaining large airtankers to undergo an improved inspection program before they returned to active service. The agencies contracted with the Sandia National Laboratories to analyze the safety of continuing use of five types of airtankers – the Douglas DC-4, Douglas DC-6, Douglas DC-7, Lockheed P-3 Orion and Lockheed P-2 Neptune. In addition, 11 of 19 Beechcraft 58P Baron leadplanes were also retired, as they had exceeded the 6,000 flight hour airframe safety limit. To further reduce the risk to the fleet, the agencies directed their field managers to use airtankers primarily for initial attack only.[1]
Almost two years after the Summer 2002 crashes and as a direct result of the ensuing investigations, on May 10, 2004, the Forest Service abruptly terminated the contracts for the entire large tanker fleet. USFS Chief Dale Bosworth stated, "Safety is a core value of the firefighting community, and it is non-negotiable. To continue to use these contract large airtankers when no mechanism exists to guarantee their airworthiness presents an unacceptable level of risk to the aviators, the firefighters on the ground and the communities we serve."[18] The decision affected tanker contracts issued by both the USFS and BLM."