The Texas Forest Service announced on Monday that four military C-130 aircraft with Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems (MAFFS) are being mobilized to help fight the fires in Texas, after Governor Rick Perry asked the federal government for assistance. In addition, a privately owned DC-10 air tanker has been dispatched to Texas. The C-130s can carry up to 3,000 gallons, while the DC-10 has a maximum capacity of 11,000 gallons.
An air tanker base has been set up in Midland to support the DC-10 air tanker. Dyess Air Force Base has set up a tanker base to support the four MAFFS aircraft. This is the first time Texas has mobilized these aerial resources.
A second Type 1 Incident Management Team (Wilder) has been ordered for a fire in Texas, for the PK West Fire, and a Type 2 Incident Management Team has been ordered to support East Texas.
Suffering their worst drought in decades,the state has dozens of active fires. Here is a list of the top ten, ranked by acres burned, as of Monday morning.
Glad the military is taking control!
but the dc-10’s system is flawless compared to the 747’s. the dc-10 is computer generated and gravity fed. the 747 is pressurized with 50,000lbs, they have in the past been landing with a large amounts of retardant left on board.they loaded last yr out of san bernardino tankerbase many times for the palmdale fires.
With the Evergreen Supertanker stationed in San Antonio, wouldn’t it be benficial for Texas to use it at the Possum Kingdom fires? The 20,000 gallons of retardent it can hold is nearly twice that of the DC-10. Israel and Mexico have tapped this valuable resource, so why aren’t we?
Headed down as single resource dozer boss tomorrow, looks like it’s going to be a rodeo