Fighting fires is dangerous. My heart goes out to the families of the dead.

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) -
WBTV has learned the names of two members of the North Carolina National Guard who died when the C-130 tanker they were in crashed while battling a wildfire in South Dakota.

According to family members, Lt. Col. Paul Mikeal and Master Sergeant Robert Cannon were killed when a C-130 Hercules belonging to the 145th Airlift Wing based out of Charlotte crashed on Sunday night.

Military spokeswoman Capt. Ruth Castro tells The Associated Press that the tanker made at least two drops of fire retardant material on the White Draw fire on Sunday before crashing at about 6 p.m.

"I'm afraid I have some disappointing news, some bad news today," said Lieutenant Colonel Robert Carver during a news conference on Monday afternoon. "The North Carolina Air National Guard and indeed the North Carolina National Guard and the Guard across the country are grieving today."

Lt. Col. Carver told WBTV that the C-130 crashed around 6:30 p.m. Sunday night during a flight.

LINK

Rumor is that the AC and Engineer didn't make it... but I haven't seen anything official.  

Sad, and I pray for the families and survivors.