Everyday hero

North Carolina Air National Guard lost four members when one of their C 130's crashed. It was fighting the fire southwest of Rapid City.

Two others were injured.

The cause of the accident, which resulted in the crash of a C-130 plane specially outfitted for spraying flame retardant at low altitudes, remains under investigation by a military board. Lieutenant Colonel Robert Carver said discussing possible causes of the crash would be “rumors and speculation.”
Lt. Col. Paul Mikeal of Mooresville, Master Sgt. Robert Cannon of Charlotte, Maj. Joe McCormick of Belmont and Captain Major Select Ryan Scott David of Boone were killed in the crash, according to family members and military officials.

Our prayers and condolences to their families.
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But what some are noticing is this:

The C-130 planes were carrying the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS), a self-contained firefighting system owned by the Forest Service. MAFFS can discharge 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in a matter of seconds.
Those planes, which made multiple flights in recent days, typically aren’t deployed unless the rest of the Forest Service’s firefighting fleet is occupied.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/07/03/3358931/at-least-2-dead-in-crash-of-c.html#storylink=cpy

InFromTheColdblog has more comments on why this "backup" unit was being used:

But there's another element to this story, one that's being somewhat ignored by the mainstream media.  Military tankers are pressed into service when the U.S. Forest Service runs short of civilian fire-fighting aircraft.  And this year, the problem has been compounded by the Obama Administration's decision to cancel the contract of a firm that has been providing aerial tankers for decades.  As Audrey Hudson of Human Events reported last fall:

Nearly half of the federal government’s firefighting air tankers are siting idle at a California airport, grounded by the Obama administration in a contract dispute just weeks before wildfires swept through Texas killing a mother and her child, and destroying 100,000 acres....
The U.S. Forest Service terminated the contract with Aero Union five weeks ago to operate seven P-3 Orions that are critical to the agency’s firefighting mission, leaving the federal government with 11 tankers under contract to help battle more than 50 large uncontained wildfires now burning nationwide.

This is politics that predates President Obama, but hasn't been fixed on his watch either.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/07/03/3358931/at-least-2-dead-in-crash-of-c.html#storylink=cpy