Photo essay: Service members drop fire retardant in West Texas Published May 4, 2011 By Staff Sgt. Eric Harris 1st Combat Camera Squadron Dyess Air Force Base, Texas (AFNS) -- Service members aboard a Modular Airborne Firefighting System-equipped C-130 Hercules drop fire retardant onto a West Texas wildfire April 27 and 28. The wildfires have spread across parts of Texas and have burned more than 1,000 square miles of land. View the slideshow.