The C-130, capable of carrying 4,000 gallons of retardant, takes only eight minutes to load. With four engines and 18,000 horsepower, it reaches fires faster than the standard S-2 air tankers.

California is the first state to own, operate and deploy a C-130 air tanker to fight wildfires.Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said the first C-130 was ready to start flying missions on Monday.

The air tanker is a retrofitted C-130 plane that Cal Fire obtained from the U.S. Coast Guard. Cal Fire will be converting six additional planes to be used as air tankers to aid their firefighting ...

Cal Fire is preparing for a challenging wildfire season in Northern California, deploying resources including a second retrofitted C-130 Hercules air tanker. Meteorologists are predicting hotter ...

California adds a second C-130 airtanker, ... Tanker 121 is the second of seven C-130Hs California plans to deploy. ... Support from the U.S. Air Force and Coast Guard has been critical in the ...

He touted that Cal Fire had acquired a second C-130 Hercules military air tanker, one of seven the agency is expected to eventually receive from the federal government. “The challenges have been ...

Standing before the first of the state’s enormous, fully equipped C-130 Hercules tanker planes, which prides a 4,000-gallon water capacity and increased speed to fight fires, officials expressed ...

DENVER – Air Force tanker planes returned to the flight line for firefighting missions on Tuesday after a deadly weekend crash, bringing much-needed reinforcements to a strained fleet battling some ...

Standing before the first of the state’s enormous, fully equipped C-130 Hercules tanker planes, which prides a 4,000-gallon water capacity and increased speed to fight fires, officials expressed ...