Air National Guard units respond to Texas wildfires

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ARLINGTON, Va. --  Air National Guard officials in three states sent four specially equipped C-130 Hercules aircraft to Texas on April 18 to support civil authorities battling 32 wildfires.

The C-130s, equipped with the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System, or MAFFS, were sent under the direction of the Joint Forces air component commander for Air Forces Northern at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.

The Air Guard units are basing their operations out of Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. Two of the four aircraft are from the California Air National Guard's 146th Airlift Wing, a third is from the Wyoming Air National Guard's 153rd Airlift Wing and the fourth is from the North Carolina Air National Guard's 145th Airlift Wing. Officials in California and North Carolina also are providing additional support aircraft.

The MAFFS is a self-contained, reusable aerial fire-fighting system loaded into the cargo bay of a C-130, which effectively turns the airplanes into aerial fire-fighting tankers.

The system 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, the tanks can be refilled in less than 12 minutes.

Typically, the aircraft will spray along the leading edge of a fire in order to check its advance. The fire retardant has fertilizer mixed in, in order to promote re-growth in a burned area. If needed, MAFFS aircraft also can spray water directly onto a fire.

To help alleviate the spread of fires, two additional MAFFS-equipped aircraft currently flying missions from Laughlin AFB, Texas, over Coahuila, Mexico, diverted to the Texas fires to release retardant until the four relief C-130s arrived.

The MAFFS are owned by the U.S. Forest Service, one of several federal and state government agencies and organizations with roles and responsibilities in wildland fire suppression that comprise the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

The Air Guard planes are flying at the request of NIFC officials. Center officials request a MAFFS activation only after committing all other aerial firefighting resources to a fire emergency.

Texas has been under a declared state of emergency since Dec. 21, 2010, because of the extreme dry weather and wildfires, National Guard officials reported. The declaration makes all state resources available to the Texas Emergency Management Agency.

(Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill of the National Guard Bureau, Lt. Col. Susan A. Romano of Air Forces Northern and officials from the North Carolina Air National Guard contributed to this story)