The U.S. Forest Service has activated military C-130 aircraft equipped with Modular Airborne Firefighting Systems (MAFFS) to support wildfire suppression in the Pacific Northwest and across the western United States, as the nation's wildfire preparedness level reached its maximum — Level 5 — for the first time in 2026.

MAFFS Deployment Details

According to the National Interagency Fire Center's July 21 Incident Management Situation Report, three units have been deployed to bases positioned to support western fire activity:

  • Two MAFFS C-130 airtankers and support personnel from the 302nd Airlift Wing (Air Force Reserve, Colorado) have been deployed to the Klamath Falls Airtanker Base in Klamath Falls, Oregon — placing them within rapid response range of multiple active Oregon fires.
  • One MAFFS C-130 and support personnel from the 153rd Airlift Wing (Wyoming Air National Guard) have been deployed to San Bernardino, California.
  • One MAFFS C-130 and support personnel from the 146th Airlift Wing (California Air National Guard) have been deployed to Santa Maria, California.

The MAFFS units work alongside the civilian contracted airtanker fleet, providing additional large air tanker capacity when demand exceeds what the contracted fleet can supply. Each MAFFS-equipped C-130 can carry approximately 3,000 gallons of retardant and be reloaded and back in the air within minutes at a properly equipped airtanker base.

National Preparedness Level 5

The National Wildland Fire Preparedness Level was raised to 5 — the highest on the five-tier scale — on Saturday, July 18, 2026, at 7:30 a.m. Mountain Time. Preparedness Level 5 indicates that national firefighting resources are heavily committed across multiple geographic areas, that additional resource measures are being taken to support ongoing operations, and that competition for personnel, aircraft, and equipment is at its peak.

The Northwest Geographic Area has also been operating at Preparedness Level 5, reflecting the intensity of fire activity across Oregon, Washington, and Idaho relative to available regional resources. At PL 5, fire managers must carefully prioritize resource allocation, focusing assets on the fires with the greatest threat to life and structures.

Scale of National Commitment

As of July 21, 20,939 firefighters and support personnel are engaged in nationwide fire activity, including:

  • 446 hand crews and hotshot crews
  • 1,127 engines
  • 125 helicopters

Nationwide, 72 large fires remain uncontained, with Oregon accounting for 19 of those — the most of any state. A total of 40,989 fires have burned more than 3.9 million acres across the United States so far in 2026, a significant increase over the 2.87 million acres burned through the same date in 2025.

Why the PNW Is a Priority

The Pacific Northwest's outsized share of large fire activity — Oregon alone accounts for more than 26% of all large uncontained fires nationally — has made the region a top priority for national resource allocation. The proximity of Klamath Falls to multiple active southern Oregon incidents makes it a strategically valuable MAFFS staging location, capable of supporting operations from the Rogue Valley north through the Cascades and east into the high desert.

Fire managers are urging the public to understand that at National Preparedness Level 5, the system is at full capacity. New large fire starts in the coming days will require difficult triage decisions about where to commit already-committed resources.