N.C. Air National Guard Deploys Sunday to Fight Texas Wildfires

N.C. Air Guard sends aircraft to fight more than 30 wildfires in Texas

RALEIGH, NC (04/16/2011)(readMedia)-- Two North Carolina Air National Guard C-130 aircraft will depart their Charlotte base Sunday morning, April 17, and fly to Texas where they will help fight more than 30 wildfires currently threatening lives and property there.

The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Boise, Id., requested help from the Department of Defense today. The Charlotte-Douglas International Airport-based aircraft assigned to the North Carolina Air National Guard's 145th Airlift Wing will take off at 10 a.m. and deploy to Dyess Air Force Base near Abilene, Texas. From there, aircrews will operate the Modular Airborne Firefighting System, also known as MAFFS. The 145th Airlift Wing is one of four Air National Guard and U.S. Air Force Reserve units that operate MAFFS.

MAFFS is a self-contained and reusable system loaded into the cargo bay of a C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft, which effectively turns these airplanes into aerial firefighting tankers. Each MAFFS module holds some 3,000 gallons of fire-retardant liquid, which 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 can also spray water directly onto a fire. MAFFS-equipped aircraft can spray a full load in a matter of seconds, return to their operating base and be quickly reloaded for another mission.

The 145th Airlift Wing operates two MAFFS modules.

NIFC requests a MAFFS activation only after committing all other aerial firefighting resources to a fire emergency.

Drought conditions in Texas have led to a reported 32 uncontrolled wildfires currently burning there.

WHO:

145th Airlift Wing, Air North Carolina National Guard
WHAT:

N.C. Air National Guard aircraft have been requested through DoD, and will be taking off at 10 a.m. bound for Dyess Air Force Base near Abilene, Texas, where the crew will use MAFFS resources to help extinguish widlfires in Texas.
WHEN: Sunday April 17, 2011 at 10:00AM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
WHERE: Charlotte-Douglas International Airport
4930 Minuteman Way
Charlotte, North Carolina 28208-3866
NOTES:

Media wishing to cover the departure of the aircraft must report to the main gate at the Charlotte Air National Guard complex at the address above no later than 9 a.m. for escort onto the base. The on-site media contact will be Air Force 1Lt. Mick Wilbur, who can be reached at 980-428-4770. Notify the point of contact for this event by 8:30 a.m. if your outlet intends to cover the story.