"They can travel farther and carry more fire retardant," said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Brent Pascua. "We will have these planes placed to where they can hit anywhere in California within 20 minutes, no matter how far or how remote. They are awesome. They can travel far. They can travel fast. We want to get to fires quickly so we can keep fires small. This is going to help tremendously."
California becomes the first state to own, maintain and operate its own C-130s for firefighting, though federal agencies and private contractors have used them at times in the state. The federal government has plans to transfer six other surplus C-130s to California in the coming years.
The C-130, a 1985 model acquired from the U.S. Coast Guard, is a type of plane used by the military since the 1950s as a workhorse to move soldiers, cargo, even tanks and Jeeps.
The planes are not without controversy, however. In 2002, a privately owned C-130 under contract with the U.S. Forest Service crashed while on an aerial firefighting mission, raising questions about the safety of using such planes.
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