Six Air Force Reserve Command and Air National Guard C-130Hs equipped with Modular Airborne Firefighting Systems 2, or MAFFS 2, equipment are supplementing firefighting efforts in Texas and in the Northwest US. Two MAFFS-equipped aircraft from the 302nd Wing, the AFRC unit at Peterson AFB, Colorado, and two from the 145th Airlift Wing, the North Carolina ANG unit at Charlotte, were deployed to Austin, Texas, on 10 September. Crews began flying missions the next day. Two additional MAFFS-equipped C-130Hs and crews from the 153rd Airlift Wing, the Wyoming ANG unit at Cheyenne, will stage out of Boise, Idaho, to provide support as needed for fires in the West and Northwest U.S. Approximately ninety aircrew and support personnel deployed as well.
