Some of the bravest men and women fighting fires are the ones who do it from the sky.  They fly INTO the smoke and flames and orchestrate pin-point assaults, launching strategic airstrikes against their foe: wildfires that rage over thousands of acres.  They coordinate aerial ballets with other planes in the sky and triangulate with ground-based fire crews, laying down retardant to kill the flames that are threatening homes and the hotshot crews trying to save them. They brave the elements, fighting downdrafts, blinding smoke, and firestorms as they fly insanely close to the mountainous terrain they’re trying to save.

I visited the California Air National Guard aerial firefighting squadron -- known as the “Hollywood Guard” -- and spent some time with the folks who graze fiery mountain tops in planes for a living.