The military has been supplying numerous photos and some videos of their firefighting activities on the Black Forest Fire. Helicopters from the Colorado National Guard and Fort Carson as well as C-130 MAFFS air tankers are assisting firefighters on the ground. Here are one photo of aircraft taken on June 12 by military personnel. The DC-10 is not military, but is working under a contract with the U. S. Forest Service. Other photos of the military aircraft are on Wildfire Today.
As far as I know, that’s true for all states. I believe even California with their aircraft fleet receives more federal aid than it supplies to other states. Of course, that’s just shoot from the hip, but I suspect that actual numbers would back me up.
Colorado numbers for the Division of Fire Prevention and Control:
State general budget approx $7.7B of a total budget exceeding $20B
funding requested for fire aviation: $1.29M
funding requested for fire management $1.08M
funding requested for state engine program $0.90M
support for 4 inmate fire teams $50K
Total $3.25M requested for state fire fighting resources. Thats about .05% of the state discretionary fund or about .002% of the total state budget. With that kind of funding, our division of Fire Prevention and Control has to go on “federal firefighting welfare”. Is your state better or worse?
Colorado is a federal welfare state when it comes to fighting wildfires. If it wasn’t for military and federal assets, we would be “up the proverbial creek”.
My thanks to all the military and federal people helping with our fires.