ARLINGTON, Va. - Four specially equipped Modular Airborne Firefighting System (MAFFS) C-130 Hercules aircraft from the North Carolina and Wyoming Air National Guard joined the massive firefighting effort in Southern California this week as weakening winds allowed an aerial assault on the state's destructive wildfires.
Strong winds can thwart these aerial missions, because it disperses the orange-colored retardant before it hits the ground.
The units arrived in the state on Oct. 23 and started flying firefighting missions on the following day.
The Airmen are operating from Naval Air Station Point Mugu, Calif., and are flying missions into the San Diego area. An Air Force Reserve MAFFS-equipped C-130 from the 302nd Airlift Wing in Colorado joined them.
Since Wednesday, the Air Guard C-130 crews and aircraft have flown more than 12 missions, dropping 32,400 gallons of fire retardant.
The North Carolina Air Guard's 145th Airlift Wing has deployed nearly 50 Airmen as well as four C-130s, two of them equipped with MAFFS. The Wyoming Air Guard's 153rd Airlift Wing has deployed two MAFFS-equipped C-130s and air crews.
In all, more than 2,500 Army and Air National Guard members continue their fight to save lives, rescue victims and ease the suffering of those affected by the wildfire devastation in Southern California.
"The size of this operation is enormous," said Lt. Col. Brian Ratchford, an aircraft commander with the 145th. "The size of the response, the size of the fire is so much larger than I have ever done."
A pilot since 1987 and a veteran of every major U.S. combat mission since Operation Just Cause in Panama in 1989, Ratchford has fought California wildfires from the air before.
"We hope to fly as many missions as we can and drop as much retardant as we can," Ratchford said. "I would like to see all the fires out before we leave."
"It's rewarding that we are out here doing a real mission and really helping someone out and trying to keep these folk's houses from burning up," said Senior Master Sgt. Andy Honeycutt, an aircraft loadmaster with the 145th.
MAFFS are owned by the U.S. Forest Service and are flown on Air Guard and Air Force Reserve aircraft. Each unit is made up of five tanks with dissemination tubes that run out the aircraft's cargo ramp. They weigh 10,500 pounds and are normally loaded with 25,000 pounds of fire retardant. The orange-colored retardant is mixed with water. When dropped, the mixture coats fuel sources such as dry grass, brush and trees to keep the fire from spreading.
"We are fortunate that we got these units, and that we are able to come out here and be a part to this. I hope we are doing some good out here," said Honeycutt.
The aircraft have an aircrew of six: pilot, copilot, navigator, flight engineer, and two loadmasters. The copilot normally discharges the retardant from the cockpit.
The aircraft takes off with the cargo ramp open so they can dump the load in an emergency. The tanks are pressurized, and Honeycutt said they can release 3,000 gallons of retardant in less than five seconds. "We can release it all at one time, or we can make three drops of 1,000 gallons or two drops of 1,500 gallons," he said. "It all depends on the type of fire line."
"The air attack guys that run the fire make the determination whether their aircraft can aid them," explained Ratchford. "Most of time they can."
The aircraft follow a smaller, lead aircraft to the fire.
If a mission is called off, Ratchford said, it's usually due to bad visibility from smoke and haze, which is the greatest challenge.
"That's where you can't see the mountains you"™re flying around," said Ratchford. "We're flying slowly at around 150 feet over a mountainous terrain with a heavy aircraft."
Weather permitting, Ratchford said they are returning to reload their aircraft and immediately flying back to the fires. They can reload in as little as 15 minutes.
"It's an odd year that we don't come out and do a little bit of firefighting on the West Coast or Pacific Northwest sometime during the summer," said Honeycutt.
The fire season starts in the spring and runs through the summer months when the fire threat is most serious. "Normally it's over by now," said Honeycutt. "This is kind of odd that we are fighting a fire this late in the year."