As the wildfire begins in earnest in 2012, the Forest Service is operating with roughly half of the aircraft it had only a decade ago, stirring some controversy about aviation firefighting resources. Earlier this month, President Obama signed a bill to add larger tankers to the Forest Service's aerial firefighting fleet and, separately, four Air Force C-130s have now been scheduled to join the fight against an active blaze in Colorado. Aside from those aircraft, at least four more Air National Guard aircraft are equipped and ready to go. But, as the Forest Service told Philly.com this week, it can't request Guard aircraft unless all private tankers are already engaged or otherwise unavailable.
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: National Guard Joins The Firefight?
