Peterson Air Force Base deployed a C-130 aircraft and aircrew Tuesday to assist fighting wildfires in California as skies over much of the western United States including Colorado remain smoky from fires burning in multiple states.

The C-130 Hercules is equipped with the U.S. Forest Service’s Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System, which can drop 3,000 gallons of fire retardant in under 10 seconds over a quarter-mile area.

Lt. Col. Jay Capper, pilot for the 302nd Airlift Wing – an Air Force Reserve unit based at Peterson – said Friday morning that they had already done 10 drops on two fires burning in the Sierra Nevada mountains. They have assisted on the Dixie Fire north of Sacramento, which has burned more than 14,000 acres and the Peak Fire east of Bakersfield, which has charred over 2,000 acres.

“We rolled up on Tuesday afternoon and went right to work,” Capper said.

Local authorities asked the Department of Defense to add a fourth firefighting aircraft to the three that have been operating out of McClellan Air Field just north of Sacramento since June 26. U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs, which coordinates Pentagon help to civilian authorities amid disasters sent the Colorado Springs airmen west.

The three other C-130 crews are from the California, Nevada and Wyoming National guards.

The six-person crew of the Colorado Springs-based reserve unit will rotate out with a fresh group of airmen arriving every week.

“We’ll be really busy for the foreseeable future,” Capper said, adding “Wherever the Forest Service feels we will best be utilized, that’s where we’ll go. This is a great opportunity to serve our fellow Americans and help people out in their time of need.”

The 302nd has battled fires for decades, including work as far away as Israel and as close to home as the 2012 Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs.

To accurately drop retardant, the four-engined, 40-ton C-130s flown by the 302nd come in a treetop level and, just above stall speed before the crew opens a nozzle to spray retardant slurry. The retardant can create a 100-foot-wide fire barrier that’s 400 yards long, stopping the growth of wildfires.

Crews train for the firefighting duty year round at Peterson, which is a short flight from mountainous training grounds in the Rockies.