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NEWS | Oct. 26, 2007

National Guard support to Southern California's wildfires

By National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va. - The National Guard continues to lean forward in response to the wildfires in southern California.

As the first military responder to the disaster, the National Guard will remain on scene supporting the governor of California until the crisis ends.

"[This has] been probably the most proactive response to a domestic event that I have seen in my 40 years in uniform," said Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau. "And we continue to be flexible and agile to meet the needs of Gov. Schwarzenegger and the citizens of California."

The National Guard is maximizing the use of the Emergency Management Assistance Compacts that are in place with surrounding states. Today, Oregon National Guard is prepared to provide one UH-60 and one Firehawk and Arizona will provide two UH-60s, if requested.

Below is a list of other personnel and equipment provided to the governor by the Army and Air National Guard this week:

  • As of today, the total National Guard response is 2,562 California Army and Air National Guard members. The initial request by Schwarzenegger was for 1,500 personnel. Over 17,000 California troops are still available to respond if needed.
  • Types of missions conducted by National Guard: firefighting, security, support to law enforcement, interoperable communications, transportation, medical support and command and control.
  • Aviation support: Three UH-60 Blackhawks, two Firehawks and two Ch-47s operating from several airfields in California. About 40 hours flown and about 244,000 gallons of water dropped.
  • MAFFS: National Guard C-130 crews and aircraft, with MAFFS have flown 12 missions dropping 32,400 gallons of retardant in the last 24 hours on wildfires in San Diego.
  • Imagery collection: An RC-26B aircraft with full motion video downlink from the 147th Fighter Wing of the Texas Air National Guard has deployed to Naval Air Station North Island to provide imagery to the incident site commander.
  • Search and Rescue: Two HH-60s from the 129th Rescue Wing of the California Air National Guard have been moved to Los Alamitos to provide support as needed.
  • Security Operations: The 40th Infantry Brigade is currently providing support to local law enforcement agencies as part of Task Force San Diego.
  • Family Assistance Programs have been established at three evacuation centers.
  • Religious Support Teams: Four are providing support at area shelters. About 19 are available from the National Guard if needed.

For more information on these operations, call the National Guard Bureau public affairs office at (703) 607-5934 or the California National Guard public affairs office at (916) 854-3304.

 

 

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