Military Planes Being Used to Fight Fires

Military Planes Being Used to Fight Fires


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(KSL News) -- Air National Guard units are training in Wyoming with a new weapon to fight fires, a huge C-130 military plane.

It can drop three-thousand gallons of water or fire retardant. A series of jets is being redeveloped to battle wildfires. Converted DC jets are four times bigger than the largest tankers now in use. And the supertanker can douse flames with a 12-thousand gallon load.

Experts say these planes work better than tankers used now.

Wylie Walno, Wyoming Air National Guard: "Capable of flying low, slow and heavy."

Rick Hatton, Omni Air International: "You look at it and say, 'It's awfully big, I guess it won't maneuver.' Well, it will maneuver."

Most of these planes are FAA certified, but still need approval from the US Forest Service.

Wildfires already burned two- million acres this year, that's well ahead of the average.

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