Air National Guard unit fights wildfires

  • Published
CHANNEL ISLANDS AIR NATIONAL GUARD STATION, Calif. (AFPN) --  California Air National Guardsmen from the 146th Airlift Wing launched aircraft outfitted for aerial firefighting May 5 to aid in the fight against Southern California wildfires.

The wing's first missions of the day were flown against Santa Barbara County's Cachuma fire.

The Ventura County-based military unit, which flies the C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft, was activated on May 4. They began firefighting operations less than 24 hours later.

The unit's C-130s are equipped with the modular airborne firefighting system, or MAFFS, and join air and ground units fighting wildfires burning in a number of Southern California counties, officials said. Air Guard firefighting operations here helping the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, officials said.

Airmen from the 146th AW have been flying aerial firefighting missions since the 1970s. Today, four Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve C-130 units fly eight MAFFS-equipped planes to assist federal and state forestry and fire-protection agencies to battle wild land fires.