Cheyenne, Wyoming. (January 10, 2025): The Air National Guard has joined local California authorities battling wildfires that have devastated Los Angeles. In this photo by Senior Airman Zachary Herold, Airmen from the 153rd Airlift Wing load and install a Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) onto a C-130H Hercules aircraft. The Air National Guard has activated all eight of its firefighting units to support local efforts.

Earlier this month, multiple wildfires broke out in Los Angeles County, the largest one encompassing almost 3,000 acres in Pacific Palisades. Local officials have ordered the evacuation of about 150,000  residents and opened nine shelters to house displaced families. As of this writing, the fires have killed at least twenty-six people and the death toll is likely to grow. Experts estimate the economic losses of this event to be in the range of $135 to $150 billion dollars, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.

Driven by hurricane force winds and extremely dry conditions, the fires have already burned over one million acres and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. In these emergencies, the federal government supplements local commercial tanker aircraft fighting wildfires. About 2,500 Guardsmen from California, Nevada, Colorado, and Wyoming are currently working with state and local agencies across Southern California. The Guard established its headquarters for MAFFS aircraft and personnel at Channel Islands, some sixty miles north of Hollywood.

The MAFFS unit drops retardant from an altitude of about 150 feet through a discharge tube located at the rear door of the aircraft. The system can discharge up to 3,000 gallons of chemical retardant weighing more than 28,000 pounds in less than five seconds. The retardant covers an area one-quarter of a mile long and sixty feet wide. After the plane discharges its load and returns to base, it can be refilled and airborne again in less than twenty minutes. Crews will continue to fly these missions around the clock until the fires are under control.

Hats off to all Air Force personnel who have come to the rescue.