Some airborne firefighters based in Ventura County have headed north, to Oregon to help battle some of the major wildfires burning in the Pacific Northwest.
The Channel Islands Air National Guard Station in Ventura County is home to the 146th Airlift Wing, which provides support to military operations, but also to humanitarian missions around the world.
Its huge C-130 military transport planes can be converted into air tankers with the use of what are known as MAAFS. They are modular units which can be temporarily installed in the cargo areas of the aircraft, allowing them to carry, and drop fire retardant and water on fires.
Two of the Ventura County based C-130’s have been deployed to an air tanker base in Klamath Falls, Oregon for use on the series of wildfires burning in the Pacific Northwest.
The Air National Guard planes are used as a backup when all of the U.S. Forest Service and commercial firefighting aircraft are already deployed on fires.
