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

A C-130 assigned to the 145th Airlift Wing, North Carolina Air National Guard, drops 3,000 gallons of water using Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System during the MAFFS 2008 annual certifying event. The upgraded MAFFS II that firefighting units will receive this fall can carry 400 more gallons and shoot fluid with greater pressure. TECH. SGT. BRIAN E. CHRISTIANSEN / AIR NATIONAL GUARD

The four Department of Defense C-130 aircraft equipped with U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Modular Airborne FireFighting Systems, who were under the command and control of U.S. Northern Command, completed their support to the firefighting efforts in Texas.

Four C-130s, two from the Air Force Reserve’s 302nd Airlift Wing, Colo., and the California Air National Guard’s 146th AW, will redeploy from Dyess AFB, TX after assisting the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) control the fires in Texas.

The mission ended Thursday night [May 5 2011], DoD aircraft completed the following in support of the State of Texas:

– 81 sorties

– 243,000 gallons of retardant

More information -
Air Force Attacks Texas Wildfires
Air Force Aids California Firefighting
Air Force Training is Making South Carolina a Little Greener

This entry is two years old. For the latest info on the Colorado wildfires, see Colorado wildfires threaten more homes.

A C-130 assigned to the 145th Airlift Wing, North Carolina Air National Guard, drops 3,000 gallons of water using Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System during the MAFFS 2008 annual certifying event. The upgraded MAFFS II that firefighting units will receive this fall can carry 400 more gallons and shoot fluid with greater pressure. TECH. SGT. BRIAN E. CHRISTIANSEN / AIR NATIONAL GUARD

For additional information about Air Guard and Air Force wildland firefighting activities, please check out these articles:

Air Force Training is Making South Carolina a Little Greener

Air Force Aids California Firefighting

Two Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems 2 aircraft from the California Air National Guard’s 146th Airlift Wing at Channel Island ANG Station, Calif., responded to a fire July 15 in Riverside County, Calif.

Guard officials said the unit was requested by the U.S. Forest Service through the National Interagency Fire Center after lightning caused a brush fire near Temecula.

The two C-130J Super Hercules aircraft flew one sortie for almost two hours and dropped 3,000 gallons of fire retardant on what the Riverside County Fire Department dubbed the “Skinner fire.”

More than a dozen fires broke out in the county, as powerful thunderstorms rolled across the region, National Weather Service officials said.

The fire had burned about 711 acres and was about 15 percent contained by late July 15, according to local news reports. Full containment was estimated for July 16.

Assistance by the military is normally requested when national civilian resources are committed to fires and more resources are needed, guard officials said. The 146th AW was called to respond to this fire, because it needs 13 drops on actual fires for certification on the new MAFFS 2 system.

The unit was the first to transition to the MAFFS 2 system in 2008, and it remains the only unit flying the new system on the C-130J Super Hercules.

MAFFS 2 systems incorporate new design features and technology that provide a number of advantages over the legacy MAFFS systems, including improvements in fire retardant coverage level, improved safety features, reduction of corrosion of the aircraft and an on-board compressor.

MAFFS is a portable fire retardant delivery system that is rolled into the back of the C-130J Super Hercules cargo compartment. The system is capable of dropping up to 3,000 gallons of fire retardant or water on wildfires. They can discharge their entire load in under five seconds.

Along with the 146th AW, there are three other MAFFS units, including the Wyoming ANG’s 153rd AW, the North Carolina ANG’s 145th AW, and the Air Force Reserve Command’s 302nd AW, based in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Since 1974, National Guard and Air Force Reserve pilots have flown 6,500 firefighting missions, dropping 167 million pounds of fire retardant around the western U.S., officials said.

United States Northern Command
By Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke
National Guard Bureau

Tech. Sgt. Rebecca Hatfield (left), an instructor with Field Training Detachment 26 of the California Air National Guard’s 163rd Maintenance Group, shows the components of the engine of an MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft to Staff Sgt. Carlos Barrera Oct. 15. Sergeant Barrera is a crew chief with the 163rd Reconnaissance Wing at March Air Reserve Base, Calif. Airmen with Det. 26 train active duty, Reserve and Air National Guard personnel on Predator maintenance operations. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Matt Smith)

Tech. Sgt. Rebecca Hatfield (left), an instructor with Field Training Detachment 26 of the California Air National Guard’s 163rd Maintenance Group, shows the components of the engine of an MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft to Staff Sgts. Carlos Barrera (center) and Alex Bush Oct. 15. The two sergeants are crew chiefs with the 163rd Reconnaissance Wing at March Air Reserve Base, Calif. Airmen with Det. 26 train active duty, Reserve and Air National Guard personnel on Predator maintenance operations. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Matt Smith)