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A dramatic video takes viewers inside the cockpit of a California Air National Guard plane being used to fight the growing Hughes Fire in Los Angeles County.
The footage shows the low-flying C-130J Super Hercules dropping fire retardant as the flames were raging Wednesday in Castaic, a community near Santa Clarita.
“Modular Airborne Firefighting Systems (MAFFS) are the U.S. Forest Service’s portable fire-retardant delivery systems and can be inserted into military C-130 aircraft without major structural modifications to convert them into airtankers when needed,” the California Air National Guard said.
“They can discharge their entire load of up to 3,000 gallons of retardant in less than five seconds, covering an area one-quarter of a mile long by 100 feet wide, or they can make variable drops,” it added. “Once a load is discharged from a MAFFS-equipped aircraft and the aircraft lands at a tanker base, it can be refilled in less than 12 minutes.”
The pilots approach the Hughes Fire in Castaic, Calif. (146 Airlift Wing/California Air National Guard/TMX)
More than 4,000 fire personnel are assigned to the Hughes Fire, authorities say.
“The weather is what is predominantly driving this fire and its spread right now. A red flag warning remains in effect until 10 a.m. Friday,” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said in a statement. “It remains a difficult fire to contain, although we are getting the upper hand.”
Tankers drop fire retardant on the front edge of the Hughes Fire in Castaic, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 22. (David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)
The blaze has forced some 50,000 people to evacuate, and it also caused temporary road closures on Interstate 5 Wednesday.
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
