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Touring the air-attack base...

 
Tanker 66 - the plane Rick flies is pictured below. For a sense of scale, note the guy walking under the right inboard engine in photo.

The belly pod contains the tank used to hold the fire retardant (the stuff that gets dropped on the fire). The tank itself is divided into multiple sections (eight if memory serves), allowing for a number of drop strategies. The plane can drop the entire load, quickly, in one pass (all tanks at once), or spread the load out over (multiple passes, or one long pass) by sequencing the opening of each tank section.

The tank is mounted right at airframe C.G., and requires no re-trimming during operations. Gross weight is an issue (the retardant is 9lbs/USgal - the plane can carry a max of 3,000 US gallons).

Tanker 66 aircraft was originally a United passenger plane.

P3 also based at the same air-attack base. Belongs to another contractor. Also equipped with a belly tank.
  Wow - we stand there gawking at the airplanes!
The R-3350 (like most radials) throws a lot of oil. And I mean a LOT. Requires regular degreasing and wash down after every flight. The mist you see in front of the engines is water vapor (Brian, the Captain is standing behind the engine spraying water up on the engine cowl).

Funny note: when they fired up #62, the inboard engine was throwing so much oil on the wing root that I thought they had an oil leak. In a minute or two after startup, the entire wing root was black with oil. And this is perfectly normal!

Tanker 66 getting a bath.
  Rick explains the tank farm where the fire retardant is stored. The metal boxes right by his arm are flow meters, allowing very precise on-loading of retardant. Upstream of that are pumps.
Shot of the entire tank farm.
Another DC-7 owned by Butler - Tanker 62.
Under the wing of Tanker 66 next to the belly tank, Rick Langston explains.
Up in the nose gear bay are six carbon dioxide high pressure tanks. These are the fire suppression system for the aircraft. The tanks are plumbed through a control valve in the cockpit, and then on to each engine. In case of an engine fire, they may be used to attempt control of the fire (in those cases where fuel and electrical cut-off fails).
A shot of the nose and gear of Tanker 66.
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