Colorado: POTUS Sends DOD NORTCOM Help

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Colorado: POTUS Sends DOD NORTCOM Help

Northcom Continues Fire Suppression Efforts
With Mobile Air Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) Deployment

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo., June 27, 2012 - Four Defense Department C-130 aircraft equipped with U.S. Forest Service Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems and under the command and control of U.S. Northern Command are helping to put out fires in Colorado at the request of the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

A C-130 aircraft, equipped with a modular firefighting system, drops retardant on a section of the Waldo Canyon fire near Colorado Springs, Colo., June 26, 2012. Four of these aircraft, assigned to the Air Force's 302nd and 153rd airlift wings, are helping civil authorities as they combat the fire. The 302nd Airlift Wing is based on Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., and the 153rd Airlift Wing is part of the Wyoming Air National Guard.

As of early this morning, DOD aircraft had completed 23 airdrops at the Waldo Canyon Fire near Colorado Springs, dropping about 59,900 gallons of retardant on the blaze. Five airdrops had released about 13,200 gallons of retardant on the Flagstaff Fire near Boulder.

The supporting units are the Air Force Reserve's 302nd Airlift Wing, based here, and the Wyoming Air National Guard's 153rd Airlift Wing, flying out of Boise International Airport in Idaho.

MAFFS is a self-contained aerial firefighting system that can discharge 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in less than five seconds, covering an area one-quarter of a mile long by 100 feet wide. Once the load is discharged, it can be refilled in less than 12 minutes.

California Fire News 2012

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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

Wednesday, June 27, 2012