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 The U.S. Forest Service has its own fleet of more than 20 air
tankers, but has in the past called on the military to provide
aircraft to help suppress wildfires.
Blazes that have raged across hundreds of thousands of acres (ha) of
forests and grasslands in Washington state and Oregon triggered the
call for the two aircraft, Steve Gage, a senior official with the
U.S. Forest Service, told reporters in a conference call on Friday.
Chronic drought has also parched much of California, New Mexico and
Arizona, heightening the risk and intensity of wildfires.
The two planes, stationed at the National Interagency Fire Center in
Boise, Idaho, can carry as much as 3,000 gallons (11,350 liters) of
retardant which can be dropped on flames in less than five seconds.
 They can be dispatched at a moment's notice to states such as
Washington, where a fire raging 120 miles (200 km) northeast of
Seattle has destroyed hundreds of dwellings and cut power to
thousands.
Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said 300 homes had been
destroyed in the 250,000-acre blaze, dubbed the Carlton Complex
Fire, one of many raging in forests from California to Idaho.
In California, a fire that erupted on Friday afternoon quickly
swelled to 600 acres across El Dorado and Amador counties in the
Sacramento area and remained out of control by 8 p.m. local time.
The call to enlist the planes comes as 10,000 of the nation's 13,000
wildland firefighting personnel are assigned to battle blazes in the
Pacific Northwest, said Mike Ferris, spokesman for the National
Interagency Fire Center.
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The partnership of U.S. fire agencies with the Department of Defense
provides for an additional six of the air tankers that can be
speedily outfitted to drop retardant, officials said. Those are
stationed at an Air Force Reserve base in Colorado and in National
Guard installations in North Carolina and California, officials
said.
"We're ready to rock and roll," said California Air National Guard
Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Allen.
U.S. fire managers said the converted air tankers are used to reduce
the intensity and slow the growth of blazes so that firefighters can
safely construct containment lines.
In addition to the Department of Defense, fire managers said they
were in regular contact with Canadian officials about the possible
loan of personnel and aircraft.
(Additional reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle and Sharon
Bernstein in Sacramento; Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis, Sandra Maler
and Ron Popeski)
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