Family and friends gather today in North Carolina memorial service for #MAFFS airmen killed

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Family and friends gather today in North Carolina memorial service for #MAFFS airmen killed

Family and friends gather today in North Carolina in a private memorial service for the four airmen killed in a July 1 plane crash while fighting the White Draw fire near Edgemont, in the Black Hills of South Dakota

The C-130 plane, equipped with the modular airborne firefighting system called MAFFS, crashed while making its third run to drop fire retardant on the Wildfire.

Air National Guard MAFFS equipped C-130j that crashed July 1 near Edgemont South Dakota fighting the White Draw fire

Killed: Senior Master Sgt. Robert Cannon, Lt. Col. Paul Mikeal, Maj. Ryan Scott David and Maj. Joe McCormick were killed in the crash.

Injured: Lt. Col. Robert Carver with the North Carolina National Guard said both airmen remain hospitalized, one in good condition and one listed in fair condition. Carver declined to release either of the airmen’s names, but the Charlotte Observer in Charlotte, N.C., has identified one of the survivors as Sgt. Josh Marlowe.

Downed Aircraft: Daniels said there is no firm timeline as to when the plane debris will be removed from the fire area. The White Draw Fire, now 100 percent contained, burned 8,900 acres.

Daniels said the plane is in several pieces on the ground. Investigators have been to the site but “there hasn’t been a cause identified yet” for the crash, he said.

Daniels said the debris will likely stay in place until the investigation can be completed. There is no timeline for completion of the investigation.

“Every single one is different, every one is unique,” he said of crash investigations. “They can’t start the cleanup until the investigation has reached a point in which not having the pieces there is OK,” he said.

California Fire News 2012

- Follow @CalFireNews

No comments:

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

Tuesday, July 10, 2012