CAL FIRE's helitack

I'd like to thank TL Stein for a photo of one of CAL FIRE's helitack helicopters, H-301, based at Hemet-Ryan Helitack Base. CAL FIRE has a fleet of nine helicopters positioned around the state, in addition, I think that they also have a couple that are maintained as emergency aircraft.

I believe that two CAL FIRE helicopters have belly tanks. One of the copters with a belly tank is H-301 and the other is based at Bear Valley. My friend at Ryan tells me that H-301 has a 360 gallon fixed tank on its belly. I don't know if the copter at Bear Valley has a 360 gallon tank. I am pretty certain that both H-301 and the copter at Bear Valley have foam tanks for class A foam.

Go here for a pictorial overview of Ryan's helitack operations, take time to check out the links! I will be writing in some more detail about helitack operations in a couple of weeks.

Note: I revised and corrected this post. I had misidentified H-301 as a helitanker. It is not a helitanker. Helitankers are heavy, large helicopters such as the Erickson Aircrane that I will be writing about next week.