MAFFS: C-130 Crews Resume Firefighting Operations

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

MAFFS: C-130 Crews Resume Firefighting Operations

C-130 Crews Resume Firefighting Operations Today

From a U.S. Northern Command News Release

MAFFS C-130H

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo., July 3, 2012 - The military's C-130 Modular Airborne Fire-Fighting System fleet will resume operations today to support the National Interagency Fire Center and its firefighters battling wildfires in several states, U.S. Northern Command officials said.

Operational flying was suspended yesterday to review flying and safety procedures after the July 1 crash of a MAFFS C-130 while fighting South Dakota's White Draw Fire. An official investigation into the crash is ongoing.

MAFFS C-130H Accident Facts List:

Status:	Preliminary
Date:	01 JUL 2012
Time:	ca 18:00
Type:	Lockheed C-130H Hercules
Operator:	United States Air Force - USAF
Registration:	92-1454
C/n / msn:	5333
First flight:
Crew:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 6
Passengers:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
Total:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 6
Airplane damage:	Written off
Airplane fate:	Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:	nr Edgemont, SD (United States of America)
Phase:	En route (ENR)
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Colorado Springs-Peterson Field, CO (COS) (COS/KCOS), United States of America
Destination airport:	Colorado Springs-Peterson Field, CO (COS) (COS/KCOS), United States of America

Narrative:
A Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) equipped C-130 transport aircraft supporting firefighting missions crashed in the southwest corner of South Dakota, USA. The aircraft was supporting the efforts against the White Draw Fire.
US Air Force officials have not yet issued a statement about the fate of the six crew members. One family confirmed to the Air Force Times that they were notified that a relative had died in the accident. It was later said that just two had survived.

MAFFS is a joint U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Forest Service program designed to provide additional aerial firefighting resources when commercial and private airtankers are no longer able to meet the needs of the forest service.
MAFFS is a self-contained aerial firefighting system owned by the U.S. Forest Service that can discharge 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in less than 5 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

- 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 3, 2012