Family members of one of the crew members of an Air National Guard C-130 that went down in South Dakota yesterday say they’ve been told that he was killed in the crash — and that only two crew members had survived. Officials have said six were on board. The North Carolina National Guard aircraft was conducting firefighting operations.

Lieutenant Colonel Barb Denny of the 139th Airlift Wing in St Joseph says their aircraft are not set up for firefighting operations, and that is not part of their mission. But Denny says any time a C-130 crashes it hits home.

“The Air National Guard is a very small community,” Denny said, “and then when you break it down to the C-130 community, it’s even smaller.”

“We’ve deployed with these folks into combat, we have done humanitarian aid missions with the North Carolina Air National Guard, and their fliers have actually gone through our Advanced Airlift Tactics and Training Center as well.”

The seven remaining Air Force C-130 planes that can drop water or fire retardant are being kept on the ground while the crash is investigated. All of the planes had been sent to Colorado last week to fight the wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of homes. Without the C-130s, there are still 14 federally-contracted heavy tankers available.