Washington Air National Guard enters the wildfire battle
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Andy Rathbum, an RC-26 mission system operator assigned to the141st Operations Group, Washington Air National Guard, maps the Chetco Bar fire in southern Oregon using the RC-26's camera Sept. 2, 2017, Brookings, Oregon. Before the RC-26 were used to map fires, firefighters would drive out along the fire line to map out its location, taking hours to complete, putting the firefighters in danger and causing information to be 25-36 hours out of date.