Modular Airborne Firefighting System 4
Modular Airborne Firefighting System 4 : Operations: MAFFS I drop over the Black Crater Fire in Oregon. MAFFS equipment is stationed at eight locations around the country. They are considered a "24-hour resource", meaning that when activated, it is expected that it will take 24 hours for the aircraft to arrive on scene, as the C-130s have to be pulled from their regular military duties and fitted with the MAFFS equipment. When needed, regional foresters can request a MAFFS activation after they have ascertained that all available commercial air tankers are assigned to on-going incidents or committed to an initial attack. The National Interagency Coordination Center at the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), Boise, Idaho, can activate the MAFFS when all other contract airtankers are committed to incidents or initial attack or are otherwise unable to meet requests for air operations. The request for MAFFS activation is approved by the national MAFFS liaison officer, who is the Forest Service director at NIFC. This request is then forwarded to the joint director of military support at the Pentagon. Governors of states where National Guard MAFFS units are stationed may activate MAFFS for missions within their state boundaries when covered by a memorandum of understanding with the military authority and the Forest Service. During the 1994 fire season, one of the worst that decade, the four airlift wings equipped with MAFFS flew nearly 2,000 missions and dropped 51,000,000 pounds (23,000,000 kg) of retardant. In 2004, after all the large civilian tankers in the U. S. had been grounded due to safety concerns, MAFFS-equipped C-130s were pre-positioned in western states in anticipation of wildfires. Besides use on U. S. fires, MAFFS has been deployed to Mexico, Europe, Africa and Indonesia. International deployment is initiated by a foreign government's request through the U. S. State Department. The military is reimbursed for the cost of operating MAFFS flights by the agency having jurisdiction over the fire. MAFFS is in use in the Brazilian Air Force and the Royal Thai Air Force C-130
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