WEBVTT

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the ground trembles , and you feel the

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roar of four propeller engines

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approaching long before it's visible .

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The rumble becomes a deafening roar as

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C 1 30 aircraft on Lee , 150 ft above

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the ground , appears just above the

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treetops and drops 3000 gallons of the

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target and less than five seconds thick .

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Red liquid coating pine needles and the

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forest floor below , creating a much

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needed line containment for

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firefighters on the ground . Oftentimes

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thes lines are directly adjacent toe a

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wall of flames . Modular airborne

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firefighting systems known as maths ,

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are a roll on unit placed on the back

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of a C 1 30 cargo aircraft . Certainly

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we've we've utilized the maths , Um ,

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in every year since 1973 with the

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exception of 13 fire seasons . So we

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call upon maths for their support

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almost every year . Certainly , many

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fire pilots , as some call them ,

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explain that this maths mission in many

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ways is more challenging than any

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combat missions they have flown . High

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density altitude and near maximum

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weight capacity loads caused the

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aircraft to perform more sluggishly

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than normal , while low visibility from

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smoke , steep mountainous terrain and

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dense air traffic pushed the air crews

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to be at the top of their game .

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Training is critical for this maths

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mission , and Cal Guard crews come

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together annually with Cal Fire and US

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Forest Service for training prior to

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fire season , tow home their skills and

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standardized operating procedures . Cal

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Guard provides a surge capacity for

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these partner agencies supporting them

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when civilian assets have been

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maximized . So way have a hybrid of

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planes out here . But I think the key

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for us to all be successful is , um ,

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this our annual training that we dio

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once a year we all get together with

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Cal Fire guys . Um , all the different

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units come in and we all train together ,

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standardized everything and get to know

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everybody's ins and outs . And doing

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that annually really helps us stay

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successful out here Way no fire knows

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no boundaries . And so , you know , way

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train together . We fight , fire

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together , a zoo fire starts on one

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agency and spreads to another so on on

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a fire . At any given time , you're

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going to see multiple agencies that are

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gonna be working together , coming

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together , toe work in managing ,

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managing that fire . Since the initial

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activation on July 23 maths equipped C

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one thirties have dropped nearly 1.5

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million gallons of retardant on fires

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across the state . Wildfires moved to

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center stage in August of 2020 ah year ,

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already fraught with co vid 19 and

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civil disturbance activations across

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the state . But the men and women of

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California's 1 46 their left wing were

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ready to respond when their partner

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civilian agencies , called living up to

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the Cal guard's motto , Always ready ?

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Always there for the 1 46

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Airlift Wing I'm Major Kimberly Holman .