The dramatic video takes viewers inside the cockpit of a California Air National Guard plane being used to fight the growing Hughes Fire in Los Angeles County.
Footage shows a low-flying C-130J Super Hercules dropping fire retardant as flames raged in Castaic, a community near Santa Clarita, on Wednesday.
“The Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) is the U.S. Forest Service's portable fire retardant delivery system that can be integrated into military C-130 aircraft without major structural changes and deployed in the air as needed,” the California Air National Guard said. It can be converted into a refueling aircraft.”
“It can release a full volume of up to 3,000 gallons of flame retardant in less than five seconds, covering an area a quarter mile long and 100 feet wide, and with a variable drop,” it added. “Once the cargo is unloaded from an aircraft equipped by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and lands at a tanker base, it can be restocked within 12 minutes.”
LA Hughes Fire burns 10,000 acres but contains only 14%
Cockpit view of a California Air National Guard pilot flying through the Hughes Fire in Los Angeles County on Wednesday, Jan. 22. (146 Airlift Wing/California Air National Guard/TMX)
The Hughes Fire has now burned more than 10,000 acres and is only 14% contained, fire officials announced Thursday.
The fire, first reported Wednesday morning, spread quickly due to strong winds that have made it difficult to extinguish the fire for weeks.
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Pilots approach the Hughes Fire in Castaic, California. (146 Airlift Wing/California Air National Guard/TMX)
Officials say more than 4,000 firefighters are assigned to the Hughes Fire.
“The weather is primarily driving this fire and its spread at this time. The Red Flag Warning remains in effect until 10 a.m. Friday,” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Malone said in a statement. “Even though we have the upper hand, the fire remains difficult to contain.”
A tanker drops flame retardant on the front end of the Hughes Fire in Castaic, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 22. (David Crane/Media News Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)
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The fire forced the evacuation of about 50,000 people and temporarily closed Interstate 5 on Wednesday.
FOX News' Anders Hagström contributed to this report.
