CAMP MABRY, Texas -- What started with a statewide disaster declaration by Texas Gov. Rick Perry last week has resulted in aviation and engineer support from the National Guard to help extinguish a number of wildfires.
Perry ordered the deployment of state firefighting assets and issued a statewide disaster declaration Dec. 27. The Texas National Guard deployed two UH-60 Black Hawks from the Austin Army Aviation Support Facility and two CH-47 Chinooks from the Dallas AASF in Grand Prairie.
The Louisiana National Guard sent three UH-60 Black Hawks with 18 crew members. The helicopters were readied to join firefighters in suppressing and containing numerous wildfires in areas the governor described as “tinderboxes.”
On Dec. 28, two of the Texas Black Hawks dropped forty-seven 990-gallon buckets of water to support firefighters on the ground in southeast Travis County.
On Dec. 31, the Department of Emergency Management requested four bulldozers and tractor trailers from the Engineer Brigade to assist in Abilene, Texas. Nineteen Army Guard and two Air Guard personnel were deployed.
One refueler was requested Jan. 1 to support personnel in the Abilene area. The armory in Stephenville, Texas, was designated as an operating base.
Four Black Hawks assisted firefighters in Eastland County, and two Chinooks with the larger, 2,000-gallon buckets supported firefighters in Carbon Eastland County Jan. 1. The aircraft flew a total of 7.5 hours and dropped a total of 17 buckets until nightfall.
On Jan. 2, aerial support continued with three Black Hawks and two Chinooks flying in support of ground personnel.
Quick response from Louisiana was the result of the Emergency Management Assistance Council “Immediate Response” agreement, signed by governors across the country, officials said. Even with 80,000 Army and Air National Guard members deployed in support of the Global War on Terrorism, the skills and flexibility of Guard members have proven to be invaluable in any emergency situation related to their homeland defense and homeland security missions, state officials said.
Burn bans are in effect all across Texas and Oklahoma, and the United States Forest Service is asking the public to be vigilant and report fires even when they think it is minor.
