Firefighting C-130s Repositioned

Six specially configured Air Force C-130s combating wildfires in Colorado and Wyoming shifted operations to Idaho and Utah to confront new flare-ups. Four Modular Airborne Firefighting System-equipped C-130s from the Wyoming Air National Guard’s 153rd Airlift Wing in Cheyenne and Air Force Reserve Command’s 302nd AW at Peterson AFB, Colo., are now fighting fires from Boise Air Terminal, Idaho, said officials with these units in a July 11 release. Two aircraft of the California Air Guard’s 146th AW simultaneously redeployed to Hill AFB, Utah, where they are now helping to contain fires in that region, they said. Col. Jerry Champlin, 153rd Air Expeditionary Group commander, who is overseeing MAFFS operations, said “with all the recent rain” in the Rocky Mountains area, the MAFFS airplanes were not needed there for the time being. As of the morning of July 12, the tiny fleet of specialized C-130s had dropped a total of 497,631 gallons of retardant in 193 sorties since June 25, 302nd AW spokeswoman Ann Skarban told the Daily Report.