Obama to Tour Colorado Wildfires Friday
Posted on Thu Jun 28, 2012 at 08:32:00 AM EST
Tags: Colorado wildfires (all tags)
President Obama is coming to Colorado Springs Friday to tour the wildfire areas which continue to ravage Colorado. Here's a map showing how big the red zone is. Around 200 - 300 homes have been destroyed, and more than 30,000 people evacuated.
More here. The photo galleries are pretty amazing.
There are more than 900 firefighters battling the fires which now cover more than 15,000 acres. The good news is the federal, state and local governments are working together. And far better prepared. Lessons learned from the disaster days of Hurrican Katrina when the feds couldn't get anything together.
Check out the website for the National Interagency Fire Center -- it's very informative and confidence-inspiring.
The military has sent two MAFF's to Colorado Springs. Whats a MAFF? [More...]
MAFFS are portable fire retardant delivery systems that can be inserted into military C-130 aircraft to convert them into large airtankers when needed. Military C-130s equipped with MAFFS can drop up to 3,000 gallons of fire retardant on wildfires. They can discharge their entire load in under five seconds or make variable drops.
A team of "Hot Shots" from Vandenberg AFB were also sent to Colorado yesterday.
The 18-member Vandenberg Air Force Base Hot Shot crew, along with two hot shots crew carrier vehicles, one superintendent support vehicle and one all-terrain vehicle, loaded into the belly of a C-17 Globemaster III from March Air Reserve Base, Calif., at approximately 1 p.m. June 27.
"This is national support at its finest," said Mark Farias, the Vandenberg AFB Fire Department chief. "Vandenberg Hot Shots, being the only DOD hot shots, bring a critical skill set to the fight.
I'm so glad these days are over.
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