Air National Guard Fight Wildfires Annually

Summer is here once again and along with sunburn and BBQ in the West that means the likely return of brush and wildfires. A key part of the battle against these devastating and often deadly plagues are the men and woman of the Air National Guard. Others play a huge role too, but this post is just about the ANG.

I grew up watching Lockheed C-130 Hercules fly from Van Nuys Airport in Southern California. At their airshows they would demonstrate their fire fighting capabilities by doing a low pass down the runway dumping gargantuan amounts of water out the rear ramp. It looked really cool but they also played a huge part in stomping local brush and forest fires.

That unit eventually moved up to Ventura County at Channel Islands ANG Station. That is essentially attached to Point Mugu, aka Naval Base Ventura County. And as far as I know they are still part of the air attack against brush, forest and wildfires with their C-130 aircraft.

Each year the Western United States goes to war against fires burning adjacent to homes that have inadequate brush clearance or were built in areas inappropriate for residential dwellings or without adequate access for fire trucks along with water supplies - they are in the boonies.

When the alarm bell rings it is a combined force that is sequentially called for help. Often it starts with the ground detachments of trucks, then the helicopters of local agencies get involved, then civilian contractors operating both helicopters and aircraft join the fight. Sometimes State and non-military Federal agencies also participate but it seems the last to get the call, and it is after all civilian contractor resources are exhausted (as far as I know), is the Air Guard. Yet it seems they are most often the most local with the biggest stick!

Here are some shots of the Guard and Reserve in action practicing for the next firefight:

And my favorite C-130 Water Bomber Picture:

Fire Fighting Aircraft - Water Bomber Stock Photography