• Bond would aid emergency responders: The proposed $76 million TCC bond issue would help fund a regional training center for firefighters and other emergency workers.
• Homeless woman found not guilty due to insanity in arson that killed 4: Judge backs insanity defense of woman who set blaze to keep warm
• Moyock volunteer fire department calls for help
• BRIEF: At least 100 evacuated in Mercato fire
• BRIEF: Two school playgrounds burn; juveniles cited in first fire

May 9--With another potentially brutal fire season at hand, the California Air National Guard showed off its aerial firefighting capabilities Thursday at its Channel Islands station near Point Mugu.

"We're here to support the ground crews in fighting wildfires," Master Sgt. Michael Drake told reporters. Air crews from the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System are doing their annual training at the Channel Islands facility this week.

As part of the training, a C-130 Hercules aircraft swooped down over the airfield Thursday, flying 100 feet off the ground and dropping hundreds of gallons of water out the back. Had there been an actual wildfire, the large lumbering aircraft could just as easily have dropped thousands of pounds of fire retardant.

Congress established the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System in 1970 after the Laguna fire devastated more than 175,000 acres in eastern San Diego County, destroyed 382 homes and killed eight people.

Since then, the Air National Guard has flown some 7,000 firefighting missions, Drake said, dropping about 162 million pounds of fire retardant.

The material is delivered from less than 200 feet above ground, often in hilly and wild terrain.

"It's one of the most dangerous things a pilot is called upon to do," Drake said. "Pilots who have flown into battle say that's safer than fighting fires from the air."

Firefighting pilots often have to deal with limited visibility as they fly low through huge columns of thick smoke. Despite the dangers, however, the Air National Guard has not had a single fatality since it started the missions in 1974.

Back then, the fire retardant it used was much more corrosive and less environmentally friendly than today's materials, said Rose Davis, a U.S. Forest Service worker based in Boise, Idaho. Fire retardant is now made of fertilizer.

Guard installs new system

"It helps damaged trees regenerate after a fire," said Brad Joos, a Los Padres National Forest official.

The Air National Guard has been criticized in years past for not providing enough aircraft in a timely way to fight wildfires in California.

This season, the Guard is committed to having enough aircraft to effectively fight fires, said Maj. Bryan Allen, a pilot. The Guard has agreements with other states to provide firefighting aircraft if needed, Allen said.

Allen, 44, a native of Newbury Park, said pilots also are working on reducing the amount of time it takes to get aircraft up in the air. And the Guard's ready to install a new generation of aerial firefighting equipment, replacing much of the 1970s technology now in use.

The new system, which officials hope will be ready by the fall, includes a single 3,400-gallon tank with a nozzle extended out the left side of the aircraft. Rather than having to wait on the ground to pressurize the tank, the new technology will allow in-flight pressurization.

Pilots also will no longer have to drop the entire contents of a tank, allowing for more efficient use of the retardant. They will be able to "box in" a fire, dropping a portion of the tank on each of a fire's four sides.

Meteorologists with the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management are predicting an increased risk of wildfires across large swaths of Southern California this year.

Lower moisture levels in wood and other large pieces of fuel, combined with above-average grass growth in much of the region, are contributing to the fire danger.

Weather is deciding factor

But as with all fire seasons, the weather -- especially Santa Ana winds -- could be the deciding factor, said Capt. Barry Parker, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department.

Hot Santa Anas and a lot of dry fuel on the ground can create "a dangerous recipe for fires," he said.

Much of Southern California was covered in smoke in October after unusually strong Santa Ana winds fanned wildfires, burning more than 500,000 acres and destroying 1,500 homes.

-----

To see more of the Ventura County Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.venturacountystar.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, Ventura County Star, Calif.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.