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A Cal Fire UH-1H Super Huey delivers water by bucket to the scene of a wildfire.
Training in advance was prescient for helicopter crews who battled the recent Los Angeles wildfires, which devastated the region during what typically is the offseason for California forest fires.
Gaining control of the Palisades and Eaton fires, the two largest of multiple wildfires that burned through Greater Los Angeles in January, required 24-hr., day and night aerial operations by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), alongside other agencies and contractors that waged the air campaign.
Statewide agency Cal Fire for the first time stood up a remote, 24-hr. helibase during the wildfires, situated at Camarillo Airport (CMA) northwest of Los Angeles. Consisting of a temporary air traffic control tower and multiple support trailers, the facility hosted seven Cal Fire helicopters, a contract Boeing CH-47 Chinook, smaller Bell 429 and 407 contract aircraft and a California National Guard LUH-72 Lakota.
“Aircraft were able to fly throughout the night,” said Cal Fire Aviation Program Communications Officer Linnea Edmeier. “That’s something new. It’s given us some insight into how we can manage this [type of] multiagency, multi-aircraft, large-scale operation.”
It was timely that the agency staged its largest night firefighting exercise to date last June, a two-week drill in northern California that combined 12 Cal Fire, Air Shasta, Helimax and PJ Helicopters aircraft.
“We brought in every night-flying-available copter that could come to the Sacramento area, and we basically put together a mock scenario where we were able to practice what we just did on the Palisades and Eaton fires,” said Paul Karpus, Cal Fire division chief of helicopter operations.
“We ran a full Type 1 night operation with a helibase assigned at McClellan Airport,” he added. “This was all done out of Lake Berryessa [west of Sacramento]. What we were building up was our own altitude restrictions and protocols. We were practicing what we had theorized.”
During the exercise, pilots were able to gain flight hours and experience using night-vision goggles (NVG). Some simple—but practical—lessons were learned. For example, crews found that red glowsticks used to mark a fire’s edge can be seen, whereas green glowsticks cannot, Karpus said.
The Palisades Fire (23,707 acres) in the Santa Monica Mountains west of downtown Los Angeles and the Eaton Fire (14,021 acres) near the Angeles National Forest northeast of the city, burned from Jan. 7-31 before they were fully contained. Cal Fire participated with other agencies in fighting both wildfires, but devoted the majority of its assets to the Palisades Fire.
Drought conditions and powerful Santa Ana winds, with gusts of up to 100 mph in some locations, were blamed for the rapid spread of the wildfires. During the 25 days the Palisades Fire raged, Karpus said, Cal Fire helicopters flew about half the time at night and were grounded for just one 12-hr. period in the first two days because of extreme winds.
“Our wind restrictions are 30 kt. (34.5 mph) where we become less effective,” Karpus said. “After 30 kt., it’s a discretionary drop. It’s not so much that you can’t fly the aircraft, it’s that we have to decide: Number one, is it effective? And number two, is it safe?”
Sustained winds in the 50-to-60-kt. range would be the maximum for firefighting helicopters, Karpus said. “We’ve flown in sustained 60-mile-an-hour winds, which on this fire I know other crews did—the LA County Fire Department in particular, and LA city—however, when you start dropping water you have to offset your drop for the wind so much that the water doesn’t always end up where you want it,” he said.
As of May, Cal Fire will operate 16 Sikorsky S-70i Fire Hawks—a firefighting platform also used by the Los Angeles County, Orange County, Ventura County and San Diego city fire departments. Its Firehawks are NVG-capable and can be configured with a 1,000-gal., belly-mounted water tank that is hover-filled with a retractable snorkel. They are fitted with external hoists for rescues and capable of transporting up to 13 passengers and three crew (a single pilot, front-seat captain and operations supervisor) or palletized cargo loads.
The state firefighting agency has two Bell UH-1H Super Hueys that can be used in various ways, such as transporting nine-person helitack crews to the start of a wildfire or delivering 300-gal. water buckets to the scene by sling-load. Cal Fire is increasingly using its Hueys for helitorch operations—dropping “dragon egg” ignition spheres from dispensers to light prescribed fires—Karpus said.
Twenty Cal Fire and contract pilots battled the Palisades Fire, Karpus said. Though they did not expect the call to duty—wildfire season in California typically runs from May through October—they were glad to be there, he reported.
“Morale was good, but everybody was there for a purpose,” Karpus said. “When they’re out saving lives and saving homes, it’s a mission unlike any other.”
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