Inciweb: Socal Pre-positioning Efforts

Friday, November 23, 2007

Inciweb: Socal Pre-positioning Efforts

Forest Service in Brief - Socal Pre-positioning Efforts

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Usfs in Brief 11/21/2007 (Doc 70 kb)

Incident: Maffs Activation
Released: 12 hrs. ago

In Brief

USDA Forest Service · Pacific Southwest Region · Southern California · November 2007 MAFFS Activation

Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS)

Southern California Pre-Positioning Efforts - November 21, 2007

BACKGROUND:

MAFFS is a self-contained reusable 3,000-gallon aerial fluid dispersal system that allows Lockheed C-130 cargo/utility aircraft to be converted to wildland firefighting air tankers. The system has been used in the U.S., Europe, Africa, and Indonesia. The system is pneumatically powered and includes tank modules, a control module, and a dissemination module. Electrical power is provided by the aircraft or by a 24-volt battery on the control module.

The MAFFS use is a joint program with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, and the U.S. Forest Service. The system was developed for installation in a Lockheed C-130 Hercules plane equipped with the USAF 463L cargo-handling-system. Crews using MAFFS can make variable drops over the fire, with flow rate pre-selected at the control module. At maximum flow rate, a MAFFS-equipped C-130 can discharge its entire load in under five seconds. Unlike a gravity system in which the aircraft's center of gravity moves aft as the retardant flows to the rear to exit, MAFFS discharges the retardant alternately from a series of tanks to keep the center of gravity within limits. MAFFS-equipped tankers can be re-loaded and flight-ready in less than eight minutes.

The objective of the MAFFS program is to provide emergency capability to supplement the existing commercial air tanker support on wildfires. The National Interagency Coordination Center at Boise can activate the MAFFS when all other contract air tankers are committed to incidents or initial attack or are otherwise unable to meet requests for air operations. The request for MAFFS activation is approved by the national MAFFS liaison officer, who is the Forest Service director at NIFC. This request is then forwarded to the Joint director of military support at the Pentagon. Governors of states where National Guard MAFFS units are stationed may activate MAFFS for missions within their state boundaries when covered by a memorandum of understanding with the military authority and the Forest Service.

Five tank modules store the retardant under pressure; each module contains a pressure tank where compressed air is stored at 1200 psi. The control module includes the master control panel, the loadmaster's seat, and discharge valves. An air compressor module provides air pressure for charging the system; it stays at the air tanker base during air operations and is used to recharge the system between runs. Each unit weighs about 11,000 pounds, with a load capacity of 3,000 gallons.

The units are loaded with either water or retardant -- a chemical that inhibits the combustion potential of vegetation on the ground. The retardant contains a fertilizer, and promotes re-growth over the burned area. While water is sometimes dropped directly on a fire, retardant is laid out ahead of the fire or at its edges to inhibit or retard the fire's spread. This allows firefighters on the ground to rapidly take advantage of the retardant effect, which helps in line-building efforts. Its bright red or fuchsia color helps air tanker pilots observe the accuracy of their retardant drops on the edge of the fire.

CURRENT SITUATION IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

In anticipation of forecasted Santa Ana winds, the Forest Service and CalFire have deployed additional firefighters, fire engines, and aircraft that will be ready to respond to any new fire as soon as it starts.

In addition to the hundreds of Forest Service firefighters that are normally stationed in southern California at this time of year, the agency has assigned 124 additional fire engines, 8 additional fixed-wing air tankers, 15 additional helicopters, and 15 hand crews that are available for any new fire starts during the Santa Ana wind event. Additionally, the Air National Guard (153^rd Airlift Wing - Cheyenne, WY) and Air Force Reserve (302^nd Airlift Wing - Peterson AFB - Colorado Springs, CO) have responded to a request from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) to deploy four C-130 aircrafts equipped with the MAFFS units. On Tuesday, November 20, the military aircraft arrived at the 146^th Airlift Wing - Channel Islands Air National Guard Station in Port Hueneme and stand ready to quickly respond if needed. The MAFFS units effectively augment the civilian air tanker fleet.

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Friday, November 23, 2007