Wildfires rage through the western United States
A Wyoming Air National Guard C-130 equipped with the U.S. Forest Service’s Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems (MAFFS)
will be launched to fight wild fires in the Western United States tomorrow.
This is Wyoming’s first 2017 firefighting activation and the first time the state will be sending a C-130 with enhanced capabilities to perform a MAFFS mission.
“I’m excited to see these modifications finally come to fruition in a domestic support role,” said Col. Paul Lyman, commander of the Wyoming Air National Guard’s 153rd Airlift Wing.
Personnel and one MAFFS-equipped C-130H each from the 152nd Airlift Wing in Nevada and the 302nd Airlift Wing in Colorado join Wyoming on the federal activation. The three aircraft will be stationed in Fresno and fly on fires in the Western United States.
MAFFS is a joint Department of Defense and U.S. Forest Service program designed to provide additional aerial firefighting resources when commercial and private airtankers are no longer able to meet the needs of the forest service.
MAFFS is a self-contained aerial firefighting system owned by the U.S. Forest Service that can discharge 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in less than 5 seconds, covering an area one-quarter of a mile long by 100 feet wide. Once the load is discharged, it can be refilled in less than 12 minutes.
Learn more about the wildfires and who is affected.
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