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Fairchild stages Washington National Guard Blackhawks to fight wildfires

U.S. Army SGT. William Hust, 96th Aviation Troop Command crew chief assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, paints the tail of a Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, Aug. 1, 2018. Two Washington National Guard Blackhawks were staged at Fairchild to fight the wildfire dubbed “The Sheep Creek Fire.” By painting the helicopters with pink-colored paint, the helicopters are more visible to ground crews they’re supporting. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Whitney Laine)

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Fairchild stages Washington National Guard Blackhawks to fight wildfires

Washington National Guard petroleum, oil and lubricants Airmen from the 141st Air Refueling Wing fuel two WNG Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawks at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, Aug. 1, 2018. Team Fairchild Airmen typically fuel KC-135 Stratotankers, but that skillset is flexible to allow them to fuel numerous mission partner airframes. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Whitney Laine)

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Fairchild stages Washington National Guard Blackhawks to fight wildfires

U.S. Army CWC Tim Thrope, 96th Aviation Troop Command co-pilot assigned to JBLM, stows his aviation helmet at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, Aug. 1, 2018. Two Washington National Guard Blackhawks were staged at Fairchild to fight the wildfire dubbed “The Sheep Creek Fire.” Washington National Guard efforts are currently focused on keeping the fire south of Sheep Creek, located north of Colville National Forest near the United States-Canadian border. Five 20-member local fire-fighting hand crews are already deployed fighting the fire, very soon to be aided by the WNG and its citizen soldiers. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Whitney Laine)

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Fairchild stages Washington National Guard Blackhawks to fight wildfires

Two Washington National Guard Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters launched from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, to Fairchild AFB to fight the wildfire dubbed “The Sheep Creek Fire,” Aug. 1, 2018. WNG efforts are currently focused on keeping the fire south of Sheep Creek, located north of Colville National Forest near the United States-Canadian border. Five 20-member local fire-fighting hand crews are already deployed fighting the fire, very soon to be aided by the WNG and its citizen soldiers. (U.S. Air National Guard photo/Tech. Sgt. Michael Brown)

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Fairchild stages Washington National Guard Blackhawks to fight wildfires

U.S. Army aircrew members walk from two Washington National Guard Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawks at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, Aug. 1, 2018. In the wake of Washington State Governor Jay Inslee declaring a wildfire state of emergency July 31, two Blackhawk helicopters launched from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, to Fairchild AFB to fight the wildfire dubbed “The Sheep Creek Fire,” which has consumed more than 20-acres of land so far. (U.S. Air National Guard photo/Tech. Sgt. Michael Brown)

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RC-26

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Andy Rathbum, a RC-26 mission system operator assigned to the141st Operations Group, Washington Air National Guard, maps the Chetco Bar fire in southern Oregon using the RC-26s camera Sept. 2, 2017, Brookings, Oregon. Before the RC-26 were used to map fires, firefighters would drive out along the fire line to map out its location, taking hours to complete, putting the firefighters in danger and causing information to be 25-36 hours out of date. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Sean Campbell)

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RC-26

As of early September, the Chetco Bar fire in southwest Oregon burned more than 130,000 acres of forested area along with 25 structures. Just under 20,000 firefighters are currently deployed across the country fighting wildfires (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Sean Campbell)

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RC-26

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Jacob Hughes, a joint terminal attack controller assigned to the 146th Air Support Operations Squadron, Idaho Air National Guard,, uses a mini thermal monocular to identify sources of heat Sept. 1, 2017, Brookings, Oregon. A mini thermal monocular can be used to locate the fire line, hot spots and other heat sources by using a high resolution thermal sensor. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Sean Campbell)

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RC-26

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Jacob Hughes, a joint terminal attack controller assigned to the 146th Air Support Operations Squadron, Idaho Air National Guard, surveys his assigned area Sept. 1, 2017, Brookings, Oregon. Each JTAC has two screens and a rover receiver. They see a map that shows the plane location on one screen and a video of the fire from the RC-26 camera on the other. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Sean Campbell)

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RC-26

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Jacob Hughes, a joint terminal attack controller assigned to the 146th Air Support Operations Squadron, Idaho Air National Guard, receives information from the RC-26 aircrew Sept. 1, 2017, Brookings, Oregon. A big part of why the Distributed Real Time Infrared program is successful is the teamwork and communication between all of the different personnel involved, including JTACs, RC-26 aircrew, National Guard members and the nearly 20,000 firefighters currently fighting fires across the U.S. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Sean Campbell)

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RC-26

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Jacob Hughes, a joint terminal attack controller assigned to the 146th Air Support Operations Squadron, Idaho Air National Guard, communicates with the Fairchild RC-26 crew Sept. 1, 2017, Brookings, Oregon. JTAC Airmen receive maps and information from the RC-26 and use it to monitor the fire line from the ground allowing for less people to be put in harm’s way. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Sean Campbell)

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RC-26

The 141st Operations Group RC-26 sits at Medford Airport before taking off to map the Chetco Bar fire in southwest Oregon Sept. 2, 2017, Medford, Oregon. The RC-26 aircrew flew 21 sorties for a total of 71.3 hours Aug. 12-30, and detected 91 fires with 14 mapped areas. The RC-26’s camera can pick up a heat signature accurately up to three miles away. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Sean Campbell)

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