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A C-130 Hercules from the California Air National Guard's 146th Airlift Wing at Channel Island ANG Station, Calif., drops water over the treetops during annual training in South Carolina. The unit was the first to transition to the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems 2 system in 2008, and it remains the only unit flying the new system on the C-130 aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Nicholas Carzis)
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MAFFS responds to brush fires in California
Posted 7/16/2010 Updated 7/16/2010
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by Air Force Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke
National Guard Bureau
7/16/2010 - ARLINGTON, Va., -- Two Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems 2 aircraft from the 146th Airlift Wing of the California Air National Guard responded to a fire in Riverside County, Calif., yesterday.
Guard officials said the unit was requested by the U.S. Forest Service through the National Interagency Fire Center after lightning caused a brush fire near Temecula.
The two C-130Js based at Point Mugu Naval Air Station, Calif., flew one sortie for almost two hours and dropped 3,000 gallons of retardant on what the Riverside County Fire Department dubbed the "Skinner Fire."
More than a dozen fires broke out in the county as powerful thunderstorms rolled across the region, the National Weather Service said.
The fire had burned about 711 acres and was about 15 percent contained by late last night, according to local news reports. Full containment was estimated for today.
The military is normally requested when national civilian resources are committed to fires and more resources are needed, Guard officials said. The 146th was called to respond to this fire, because it needs 13 drops on actual fires for certification on the new MAFFS 2 system.
The unit was the first to transition to the MAFFS 2 system in 2008, and it remains the only unit flying the new system on the C-130J aircraft.
MAFFS 2 systems, which are owned by the U.S. Forest Service, incorporate new design features and technology that provide a number of advantages over the Legacy MAFFS systems, including improvements in retardant coverage level, improved safety features, reduction of corrosion of the aircraft and an on-board compressor.
Engineering designs have also reduced the amount of retardant splashed on the exterior of the plane during aerial drops, which saves time and money previously allocated to cleaning the excess retardant from the plane, forest service officials said.
MAFFS is a portable fire retardant delivery system that is rolled into the back of the C-130 cargo compartment. The system is capable of dropping up to 3,000 gallons of retardant or water on wildfires. They can discharge their entire load in under five seconds.
Along with the 146th, there are three other MAFFS units, including the 153rd Airlift Wing of the Wyoming Air Guard, the 145th Airlift Wing of the North Carolina Air Guard and the 302nd Airlift Wing of the Air Force Reserve Command, based in Colorado Springs, Colo.
In May, NIFC predicted an increase in wildfire activity for the western part of the country during the 2010 fire season.
The number of MAFFS flights each year varies with wildfire activity. Over the last 10 years, military C-130s equipped with MAFFS systems delivered a total of about 9.1 million gallons of retardant on wildfires, an average of about 910,000 gallons per year.
Since 1974, National Guard and Air Force Reserve pilots have flown 6,500 firefighting missions, dropping 167 million pounds of fire retardant around the western United States, officials said.
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