PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. - Two Air Force cargo planes equipped to fight wildfires have been dispatched to New Mexico, where crews are trying to get control of at least three fires.
The C-130 aircraft carry a system of pressurized tanks that can dump 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in less than 5 seconds. They were sent from Channel Islands Air National Guard Station, Calif., to Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., on Wednesday.
The planes are from the California Air National Guard. Personnel from Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., will oversee the planes' operations from the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. The fire center requested the planes from the Air Force.
The Air Force didn't say which fires the planes would battle. Wildfires are also burning in Arizona and Colorado.