COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. ÷ Call them backstops ÷ the last line of air defense when forests explode or the final option for the U.S. Forest Service for help from above.

They love that, these Air Force reservists and National Guard units who fight fires from the skies ÷ piloting lumbering C-130s over engulfed trees, following lead planes through smoke-filled valleys and cruising above burning scrubland to dump fire-squelching retardant.

ćItās probably some of the best flying we do in the military,ä said Lt. Col. Russ McKeel of the 302nd Airlift Wing, an Air Force Reserve unit based at Peterson Air Force Base. ćYouāve got snags sticking up, flying 200 feet above trees, wind currents, fire behavior. Itās that dance at a low altitude with that lead plane.ä

The military units, officially named the Modular Airborne Firefighting System, or MAFFS, are called in to fight fires on federal lands when the Forest Service has exhausted other resources.

Commercial planes get firefighting jobs first. When the nationās 40 commercial planes are in use, the military gets the call.

That could happen soon in this dry, potentially hazardous fire season.

The MAFFS units have never been called to fight a Colorado fire, but Lt. Col. Scotty Carr of the 302nd thinks that may change.

ćAll the indicators are there,ä said Carr, who has been a MAFFS pilot since 1994. ćColorado is in really nasty shape. Thereās drought and overgrowth.ä