Tennessee Guardsmen respond to East Tennessee wildfires

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - At the request of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, the Tennessee National Guard provided four UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters from Knoxville's 1-230th Assault Helicopter Battalion, to support wildfire response in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, beginning August 27.

Around 2:20 p.m. EST, Tennessee National Guard helicopters departed from McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base with Bambi Buckets used to provide hundreds of gallons of water to fight wildfires. Each aircraft made multiple trips throughout the afternoon, picking up water from nearby water sources and transporting it directly to the needed area. The aircrews delivered more than 40 bucket loads of water, totaling nearly 8,000 gallons.

Three Tennessee National Guard helicopters are flying missions today, August 28, delivering water to suppress the spread of the fire. The aircraft are scheduled to continue supporting firefighting efforts until tonight. The Tennessee National Guard is prepared to continue supporting the firefighting efforts as long as needed.