C-130 MAFFS Ops Scaled Back

The US Forest Service released two of the Air Force’s Modular Airborne Firefighting System-equipped C-130s from combating wildfires across the western United States, announced firefighting officials with the 153rd Air Expeditionary Group at Cheyenne, Wyo., on July 17. The two aircraft were no longer needed since fire activity had abated in several areas, they said. This left four MAFFS-outfitted C-130s still battling the blazes. Under the change, enacted late on July 16, two C-130s from the Wyoming Air National Guard’s 153rd Airlift Wing that were operating from Hill AFB, Utah, will return to their home station in Cheyenne. At the same time, two C-130s from the California Air Guard’s 146th AW will shift from Hill to the Boise Air Terminal in Idaho, joining two C-130s already operating from there from Air Force Reserve Command’s 302nd AW at Peterson AFB, Colo. From June 25, the start of C-130 MAFFS operations, through July 16, these firefighting airplanes completed more than 250 missions, releasing more than 641,000 gallons of retardant on the fires in the Rocky Mountains region, stated the 153rd AEG officials.