A C-130 Hercules from the Air Force Reserve Command's 302nd Airlift Wing in Colorado Springs,Colo., equipped with a Modular Airborne Firefighting System, drops a line of fire retardant in West Texas, April 27, 2011. MAFFS-equipped planes are capable of dispensing 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in under five seconds. MAFFs aircraft have been sent to New Mexico to support the ongoing firefighting efforts in the southwestern U.S. U.S. Air Force photo - Staff Sgt. Eric Harris

Under the direction of the Joint Forces Air Component commander for Air Forces Northern here, two C-130 Hercules aircraft from the California Air National Guard’s 146th Airlift Wing, both equipped with Modular Airborne Firefighting Systems, or MAFFS, deployed to Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., June 15 to conduct fire containment missions in support of wildfire suppression efforts in the southwestern U.S.

The aircraft are being deployed at the request of National Interagency Fire Center officials in Boise, Idaho. Members of the 302nd Air Expeditionary Group will provide command and control of the aircraft from Boise. This year, the 302nd AEG, which is composed largely of personnel from the 302nd Airlift Wing at Peterson AFB, Colo., has supported firefighting efforts in Texas and Mexico.

Fire containment missions, which are assigned by NIFC officials or the respective wildland fire manager, are scheduled to begin June 16.

The MAFFS is a self-contained aerial firefighting system that can discharge 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in less than five seconds, covering an area one-quarter of a mile long by 60 feet wide. Once the load is discharged, a MAFFS can be refilled in less than 12 minutes.

The MAFFSs are owned by the USDA Forest Service, one of several federal and state government agencies and organizations with roles and responsibilities in wildland fire suppression that comprise the NIFC in Boise, Idaho. Department of Defense aircrews are flying at the request of NIFC officials.

The Department of Defense, through the commander of U.S. Northern Command, provides support to the NIFC in conducting wildland firefighting operations within the continental U.S., Alaska, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands as approved by the secretary of Defense.

AFNORTH is the air component for U.S. Northern Command and when tasked, provides support to local, state, tribal, regional and federal emergency service agencies.

Air Force
by Tom Saunders
Air Forces Northern Public Affairs

Photo taken by Ron Sander. Credit: US Forest Service, Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest

Sunrise in Western Arizona finds the Wallow wildfire still growing and only 5% contained. The morning situation report from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) show that the fire grew by over 50,000 acres in the last 24 hours, to a total burned area of 386,453 acres. 67 structures have been lost including 22 homes in the community of Greer.

The fire is being fought by 3,137 people, using 221 fire engines and 14 helicopters. Costs for this fire to date have reached $19 million. According to the website for the Wallow fire, bulldozers are being used to construct fire lines along the north and northeastern edges of the fire. Controlled burns are planned for tonight.

Two other large wildfires are also burning in Arizona.

The Horseshoe Two fire is 40% contained. It has burned at least 128,000 acres in and around the Coronado National Forest. It is burning south of the Wallow fire also along the New Mexico border.

The Murphy Complex fires are burning to the northwest of Nogales, Mexico. The fire is burning on both sides of the international border. It is 75% contained and has burned 68,000 acres. This fire is also burning in portions of the Coronado National Forest.

NIFC has recorded 31,115 wildfires in the United States in 2011 through June 10. This is less than the ten year average of 33,387 fires. Total acreage burned, however, is two and a half times greater with 3,959,427 acres burned this year compared to the ten year average of 1,523,983 acres. The combination of the current wildfires and those earlier this year in Texas (1.6 million acres) accounts for much of the increased burned acreage.

Exceptional and extreme drought conditions reach from the region of the Arizona fires east to the Atlantic coast in Georgia.

• Arizona: 18.4%, the southeastern counties
• New Mexico: 67.9%, the southern 2/3 of the state
• Texas: 85.4%, all but the northeastern corner of the state
• Louisiana: 70%, all but the northeastern corner of the state. Mitigated in part by Mississippi River flooding
• Mississippi: 7.9%, the southeastern panhandle
• Alabama: the panhandle and the southeastern counties
• Florida: 32.5%, the panhandle, eastern Everglades and Atlantic coast from Vero Beach to Homestead
• Georgia: 54.9%, almost the entire southern half of the state

15.7% of the contiguous U.S. is in either exceptional or extreme drought conditions. Last year it was 0.5%. In 2009, that figure was 1.9% and in 2008 2.4%. The last time the U.S. experienced drought conditions this severe was the winter of 2003-2004.