The United States military has activated its aerial firefighting reserve, deploying Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS)-equipped C-130 Hercules aircraft from multiple Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve wings as the national wildfire situation reaches its most demanding level in years. Two of those aircraft are now based in Klamath Falls, Oregon, positioned to directly support the Pacific Northwest fire response.

MAFFS Deployments

According to the National Interagency Fire Center’s daily national fire news, the following MAFFS units are currently active:

  • 302nd Airlift Wing (Air Force Reserve, Colorado): Two MAFFS C-130 airtankers and support personnel deployed to Klamath Falls, OR. The second aircraft from this wing was activated and positioned on July 15.
  • 153rd Airlift Wing (Wyoming Air National Guard): One MAFFS C-130 and approximately 20 airmen, including aircrews and maintenance personnel, deployed to San Bernardino, CA.
  • 146th Airlift Wing (California Air National Guard): One MAFFS C-130 deployed to Santa Maria, CA to support national wildland fire operations.

MAFFS units are activated by the Secretary of Defense at the request of the U.S. Forest Service when civilian airtanker capacity is insufficient to meet national demand. Each MAFFS-equipped C-130 can carry approximately 3,000 gallons of fire retardant and is designed to deliver it in a single pass over active fire. The basing of two aircraft at Klamath Falls puts them within relatively short ferry distance of the major fire complexes burning across southern and central Oregon.

National Preparedness Level 5

The MAFFS activations are a direct consequence of the escalating national fire situation. On July 18, 2026 at 7:30 a.m. Mountain Time, the National Interagency Fire Center elevated the country to National Preparedness Level 5 (PL 5) — the maximum on a scale of 1 to 5 — reflecting the highest level of resource commitment and demand nationally.

PL 5 means that national firefighting resources are heavily committed across multiple geographic areas simultaneously. At this level, NIFC takes additional coordination measures, including the activation of military assets, the deployment of international crews under mutual aid agreements, and the prioritization of resource assignments based on life and property risk.

As of July 20, the national firefighting force includes 19,397 personnel, 404 crews, 1,188 engines, and 140 helicopters engaged across 74 large fires in multiple states. The Northwest Geographic Area and fires in northern Minnesota are described by NIFC as posing the largest demand for resources nationally.

The National Coordination System

NIFC emphasized in its daily briefing that resource movement between geographic areas is a deliberate and expected feature of the national fire management system. “Wildland fire does not follow state lines, and neither does the response,” the agency stated. “Firefighters, engines, aircraft, and incident management teams are part of a national system designed to move resources where they are needed most.”

Resources may be temporarily moved from lower-activity areas to support high-demand situations like the current Northwest surge — a coordinated approach intended to maximize effectiveness and safety across the entire national landscape.

Idaho Response

In northern Idaho, where the Turner Fire and Upper Smith Fire have been burning in Boundary County near Copeland since July 15, a coordinated multi-agency air attack was deployed including large airtankers, very large airtankers (VLATs), single-engine air tankers (SEATs), and helicopters scooping water from the Kootenai River. The Idaho Fire Chiefs Association deployed two task forces of engines to protect structures near the fire perimeter. The Copeland and Porthill boat launches on the Kootenai River were closed to keep civilian watercraft clear of scoop-plane operations.

The full scope of the current aerial firefighting response — military and civilian — reflects the severity of the 2026 fire season in the Pacific Northwest. Conditions are not expected to ease in the near term.