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Air wing will provide equipment to fight wildfires in the West

A federal firefighting agency is mobilizing portable fire retardant delivery systems from Peterson Air Force Base that can be inserted in military aircraft to fly wildfire suppression missions in the West.

The National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group is also mobilizing two Department of Defense C-130s that will be equipped with the systems, called modular airborne firefighting systems.

The MAFFS provided by the 302nd Airlift Wing, Air Force Reserve, at Peterson, will supplement two other fire-suppression systems activated late last week from the 145th Airlift Wing, California Air National Guard.

“We are mobilizing MAFFS to ensure that we continue to have adequate airtanker capability as we experience very challenging wildfire conditions in California and elsewhere in the West,” said Aitor Bidaburu of the NMAC.

Airtankers are used to deliver fire retardant to reduce the intensity and slow the growth of wildfires so firefighters on the ground can construct containment lines safely.



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