Joe McBryan, owner of Buffalo Airways, has a DC-4 based in Fort Smith that will be hauling 10,000 litres of bulk fuel per trip. He expects it will make 150 flights over 21 or 22 days to transport all the bulk fuel his company has been contracted to deliver.

RCMP Const. Ed Jobson of the Fort Chipewyan detachment said the fuel shipments couldn't come at a better time.

"Propane was very low. We had to redistribute what we had in town to people who were out," he said Friday. "Gasoline was out and home fuel was desperately low."

Normally, the community's massive storage tanks are filled in late January by large tanker trucks. However, the mild temperatures this year wiped out the winter road and created a crisis situation. The road was only open for about five weeks this year and there was never enough ice for industrial vehicles.

The road is usually in good condition until early March, Jobson said. The fuel being brought in by Buffalo Airways is expected to hold out until a barge arrives in June.

McBryan has two flight crews and four of his top engineers and aircraft mechanics to carry out the mission.

"It's what we do best," McBryan said of his company's role in the effort.

"Our airplanes are normally configured as tankers in the spring and fall to resupply the local mines."

Fort Smith Mayor Peter Martselos said his town was very willing to lend its airstrip. "We're more than happy to help in any way we could," he said.