NASA and the military kick in aircraft to fight fires
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Cal Fire officals agreed to add 14 military aircraft, including water-dropping helicopters and C-130 warplanes, to the fire fights in Lake Arrowhead and San Diego.
They initially had insisted that each helicopter carry a state fire spotter, but later agreed to let the entire fleet fly with a single spotter in the lead. The agreement came after Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon) intervened Tuesday night, according to Hunter’s spokesman Joe Kasper.
The fleet includes eight Marine helicopters and six Air Force National Guard C-130 planes from Colorado, Wyoming and North Carolina.
A Canadian Martin Mars water bomber also is expected this afternoon, San Diego fire officials said. The plane can land on water, lift and drop 7,200 gallons in one trip, enough to douse three acres, Messer said.
NASA also is supplying an Ikhana unmanned plane equipped with a thermal-infrared imaging system that can track and map hotspots through dense smoke, the agency said. NASA personnel on the ground will gather images of fires from Lake Arrowhead to southern San Diego County, then relay them to firefighters on the ground.
-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske