For Release: Immediate  Date: August 16, 2001

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The North Carolina Air National Guard will deploy crews and three C-130 cargo aircraft to Boise, Id., today to assist the U.S. Forest Service in fighting forest fires burning in the western United States.

The aircraft, part of the 145th Airlift Wing (AW) based at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport here, will depart between 11 a.m. and 12 noon. Members of the media wishing to cover the departure should come to the base main gate at the airport at 5225 Morris Field Drive no later than 10:30 a.m.

From a staging base in Boise, Id., where the National Interagency Fire Center is located, approximately 30 North Carolina Air National Guard members will operate the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System, or MAFFS. Since 1974, MAFFS has saved land, lives and property from wildland fires in the United States and abroad. MAFFS is only activated when all other air tanker resources are committed.

The MAFFS mission equips C-130s with a fire fighting apparatus that is loaded into the aircraft's cargo area. The MAFFS unit itself is a series of pressurized tanks that hold 3,000 gallons of flame-retardant liquid called Phos-Chek. Directed by ground crews and led to the fire site by a U.S. Forest service lead plane, MAFFS aircraft drop retardant along the leading edge of a fire to block the spread of flames.

The North Carolina contingent will operate two C-130s equipped with MAFFS modules. The third aircraft will transport other equipment and provide maintenance support. They will become part of the 146th Air Expeditionary Group made up of MAFFS fire fighting aircraft from around the country. Col. David Hatley, commander of the 145th Airlift Wing, will serve as the Group vice commander.

Only four units operate MAFFS. In addition to North Carolina's unit, the Air National Guard's 146th AW from Channel Islands, Calif., the 153rd AW from Cheyenne, Wy., and the Air Force Reserve's 302nd AW from Colorado Springs, Colo., make up the MAFFS force. All have been activated and based in Boise due to the severity of the current forest fires.

Last year, the North Carolina Air National Guard deployed to Hill Air Force Base, Ut., for six weeks as part of a MAFFS fire fighting mission. During its stay, the unit flew 240 missions and dropped more than 600,000 pounds of flame retardant.

The length of this year's mission is as yet undecided and will depend on the demands of the fire situation.

The North Carolina Air National Guard is part of the North Carolina National Guard, which is a part of the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.

For related information on MAFFS please see the following websites:

North Carolina Air National Guard: www.ncchar.ang.af.mil
U.S. Air Force: www.af.mil
Air National Guard: www.ang.af.mil
U.S. Forest Service MAFFS page: www.fs.fed.us/fire/aviation/maffs

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