Air National Guard Unit to Get New Firefighting Equipment
POINT MUGU — The California Air National Guard unit based on the Ventura County coast will receive new equipment to fight forest fires under a defense spending bill approved this week by both houses of Congress, officials said.
The Air Guard wing, which was based for many years at Van Nuys Airport and has many San Fernando Valley residents in its ranks, moved several years ago to a base near the Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Station.
A defense appropriations bill passed Thursday, which will soon be placed on President Clinton’s desk for signature, provides about $15 million for new, more powerful replacements for the firefighting systems that can be mounted in the wing’s four-engine C-130 cargo planes, officials said.
The units pump out fire retardant as the planes pass over brush and forest fires.
The appropriation was spurred by a bill introduced last year by Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley).
Air National Guard crews from the Channel Islands base flew nearly 600 firefighting missions over California, Arizona and Idaho this summer, dropping an estimated 1.6-million gallons of fire retardant.
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