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About 2,500 National Guardsmen from California, Nevada and Wyoming are on duty working with local, state and federal agencies to fight the wildfires raging across the Los Angeles area, the National Guard Bureau said Tuesday.
Guard service members were dispatched to assist in fighting fires — in the air and on the ground — and ensuring the public safety of communities, joining the thousands of other personnel deployed to combat the blazes in Los Angeles.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Sunday he had increased the number of California Guard personnel supporting wildfire response and public safety efforts.
"The men and women of the California National Guard have been on the ground since day one – not only fighting fires but also assisting with public safety efforts in communities devastated by these fires," he said in a statement. "We thank them for their efforts to keep our communities safe."
The active force expansion comes during the second week of California's wildfires.
The Palisades and Eaton fires have destroyed more than 37,000 acres and killed at least 25 people, The Los Angeles Times reported Monday morning.
About 92,000 Los Angeles County residents were also under mandatory evacuation orders Monday morning, L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said during a news briefing, CBS News reported.
Deployed Guard service members include more than 1,000 troops from the Military Police Force stationed at traffic control points to ensure the safety of the surrounding communities.
Additional service members are supporting wildfire suppression operations through the California Guard’s Task Force Rattlesnake, aviation resources and training additional hand crews at Camp Roberts in San Miguel, Calif.
The California, Nevada and Wyoming Air Guards have also deployed aircraft with equipment to help control the wildfires.
The three states have mobilized multiple C-130 Hercules aircraft fitted with Modular Aerial Fire Fighting Systems, which allow Guardsmen to drop water or fire retardant from the aircraft onto active blazes.
The C-130s are being operated by the California Air Guard’s 146th Airlift Wing, the Nevada Guard’s 152nd Airlift Wing and 192nd Airlift Squadron and the Wyoming Guard’s 153rd Airlift Wing and 187th Airlift Squadron.
The 302nd Airlift Wing and 731st Airlift Squadron — Air Force Reserve units based in Colorado Springs, Colorado — are also providing C-130s for the mission.
More than 80 aircraft are being utilized to help fight the fires.
Each MAFFS unit features an 11,000-pound tank that can be refilled in under 15 minutes and can drop up to 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in six seconds across a line three-quarters of a mile long.
The planes conducted six missions over the weekend, dropping more than 16,000 gallons of fire suppressant.
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning about the fires Sunday which runs through Wednesday.
NWS said Santa Ana winds were expected to pick up again, potentially reaching between 45 and 70 miles per hour and threatening to worsen the blazes.
As of Tuesday morning, there were four active fires in California, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
— By Donald Lambert
