San Diego County CA Approved Purchase of Firehawk Helicopter for Nighttime Firefighting

 

Direct link to October 21st video from CBS 8 San Diego on YouTube

I want to thank my friends from the B10 NJ Wildland Fire Page for sharing this video on their webpage this morning.

I do try to follow aerial fire operations in other States including California but I may not  post about changes in a States aerial fire fleet right away. I am making an exception to this by sharing this video saying that San Diego County has approved $38 million for a Firehawk helicopter with the ability to fly fires at night. I have some close friends in San Diego County who know how to stay safe from wildfires, and I am always interested in available aerial resources to keep my friends safe from wildfires. This Firehawk, a type 1 firefighting helicopter, will have a 1,000 gallon tank, the ability to carry 12 firefighters and will be ready to fly in the spring of 2026.  This will mean that the County does not have to request a Calfire Firehawk from an adjoining county. In addition to dropping water and transporting firefighters to wildfires this helicopter will be used for rescues. Another source of information is this article from the San Diego County News Center.

The San Diego County Fire Protection District  has a lot of good information relevant to fire safety. Unfortunately, I can  not find an online listing of any current county owned or contracted resources. I do know that Calfire’s aviation resources  are available to San Diego County .

Winter Maintenance of Firefighting Aircraft is Important

Direct link to July 2025 video from Airborne Firefighters on YouTube

I was looking around for something related to aerial firefighting to share with you today, when I came across the above video from Airborne Firefighters dated July 12, 2025. This video provides a behind the scene look at CAL FIRE's winter maintenance. While specific to the winter maintenance ofCAL FIRE's aircraft, this video gave me a glimpse into what might happen in the winter maintenance of any firefighting aircraft. I learned something and perhaps some of you will also learn something as well. Enjoy!

As an aviation enthusiast I know the importance of regular maintenance of any type of aircraft to keep the aircraft, pilots, and any passengers safe. In addition, if an aircraft crashes their is always the risk of damage to infrastructure on the ground, including buildings as well as injuries or death of people on the ground. From time to time I have shared about aircraft maintenance and inspections.

Friday Fun: A Look at CAL FIRE's Firehawk Helicopter

Direct link to July 31st video from CAL FIRE TV on YouTube

According to the information supplied by CAL FIRE in the text accompanying the video the Firehawk helicopter has a 1,000 gallon capacity water tank, is equipped with night vision, external hoist for rescue operations and can seat a nine-person helitack crew.

First of Seven C-130s Ready to Fly Fires for Cal Fire

Direct link to Cal Fire video on YouTube

I have know for a few years that Cal Fire took delivery of seven C-130s that were retired from other government service. These C-130s will be converted to fly fires along with other repairs, see for example this March 2024 article on Fire Aviation. I try to monitor various pages on Facebook of air tanker contractors as well as some state and federal agencies. I noted this Aug 26th post from CAL FIRE reporting that the first of seven C-130H airtankers went into service that day, sharing the video that I embedded above from Cal Fire's YouTube page. 

I thank Mike Archer from the Wildfire News of the Day newsletter for sharing this August 26th news release from Gov. Newsome's office on the C-130H air tankers that includes the above video as well as a link to a C-130H fact sheet as well as a video (not on YouTube) of the first drop of the C-130H. The first C-130H will be based at McClellan Airtanker base.

Some facts about the C-130H:

• range loaded of 800 miles, no load of 3,000 miles
• tank capacity of 4,000 gallons of retardant
• four Allison T56-A-15 turboprops. Each turboprop produces 4,300 horsepower
• requires a pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer

New Helo Pod deployed in Northern San Diego County CA

Direct link to video from KPBS on YouTube

I have a special place in my heart for helicopters, this is for you Matt, and I am always interested in the different ways that helicopters may refill their tanks if tanker or refill their bucket. I learned of the Helo Pod in San Marcos, CA (northern San Diego County) that you see in the KPBS video the other day when I was perusing Facebook and saw a video from CAL FIRE San Diego of the demonstration of a San Diego County Sheriff's helicopter using the Helo Pod. I believe that I may have read about other Helo Pods in the past several months. This Helo Pod holds 5,000 gallons and can be filled remotely. The idea is that helicopters will be able to access this Helo Pod at any time thus reducing turn around time and saving lives. For more information, see this April 30th article on KPBS.

If you are a fan of watching helicopters work as I am, then you may enjoy this seven minute live video that CAL FIRE San Diego recorded on April 30th and shared on their Facebook page. I enjoyed watching the video and I thought that some of you might enjoy it as well so I am embedding it below.

Friday Fun: A behind the scenes look from the cockpit of CAL Fire Air Attack

Enjoy this 2022 video from the Grass Valley Air Attack Base in California of a behind the scenes look at air attack on the Still Fire. Grass Valley has an account on Facebook, but you need to have a Facebook account to access their page. You will hear various radio traffic related to the Still Fire and there is cockpit footage from various air craft working the fire, including the OV-10 Air Attack (spotter), a helicopter and a CAL FIRE air tanker.

Direct link to video from Grass Valley Air Attack Base on Youtube

Three firefighters who died in mid-air crash in Carbazon CA identified

obtained from @CAL_FIRE (X, formerly known as Twitter on Aug 7 at 3 PM

Earlier this morning, I wrote about the mid-air collision of two helicopters early in the evening of August 6, 2023. You may find my earlier post here.

In a recent tweet on X (formerly Twitter), CAL FIRE released the names of the deceased, but you will probably need a Twitter account to see the tweet, CAL FIRE's tweet may be found here. Fortunately, I just saw an article  on CBS Los Angeles identifying the namse of the deceased:

• CAL Fire Assistant Chief Josh Bischof
• CAL Fire Fire Captain Tim Rodriquez
• Exclusive Use Helicopter Pilot Tony Sousa

I offer my heartfelt condolences and prayers to the families, colleagues, CAL FIRE, friends, and all who loved the deceased. May you rest in peace and always fly in favorable winds.

Airtankers from 2010

 I have been thinking recently of the Airtankers that were still flying when I started this blog in 2009, in particular the P2V from Neptune Aviation and the Lockheed P-3 Orion from Aero Union. Both are no longer flying. The last P2V was retired a couple of years ago and Lockheed shut down operations about 11 years ago. I wanted to share a video featuring these tankers and remembered a video by Alan Simmons.

In this eight minute video by Alan Simmons shot around 2009 and 2010 you will see the Grumman S2-T flown by CAL Fire (still in service), P2V Neptune, Lockheed P-3 Orion, Canadair CL-215 and 415 (I belive the 415 is still in service, not sure about the 215), and a DC-10 tanker (the DC-10 tanker in this video is no longer flying but 10 Tanker Carrier has a fleet DC-10 tankers flying fires). Alan ends with a section of what were historic tankers at the time he shot this video. Some of you may remember this video as I have shared it here before on a couple of occasions. It is worth seeing again.

Direct link to video by Alan Simmons on YouTube

Sikorsky S-70i Fire Hawk helicopters revisited (2 of 2)

I am following up on the post I made on November 14th about the Sikorsky S-70i Firehawk. Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation has a list of these Fire Hawks and the agency who operates them in his March 12, 2022 article, all are operated by agencies based in California. I want to close with embedding a couple of videos of CAL FIRE's S-70i Fire Hawk.

I start with a short video by Eli Hunter of an S-70i Fire Hawk landing.

Direct link to video by Eli Hunter on YouTube

Here is a video by Firedudes of an S-70-i Fire Hawk refilling.

Direct link to video by Firedudes on YouTube

I was not able to find a short video of an S70-i Fire Hawk working a fire, but in this short video below by CAL FIRE at about 35 seconds you will see a Fire Hawk dropping on what appears to be wildfire or a controlled burn. I am sure that there are videos out there of the S70-i Fire Hawk in action over a wildfire that I was not able to find.

Direct link to video by CAL FIRE on YouTube

About CAL FIRE's Fire Hawk Helicopters

I suspect that many of you know from following various wildland fire news sources such as Bill Gabbert's Fire Aviation, Mike Archer's Wildfire News of the Day and Aerial Fire about CAL FIRE's Fire Hawk helicopter. I came across a nice video report about three weeks ago from my friends at the NJ Forest Fire Service Section B10 who posted a video about the Fire Hawk on their website (go here and scroll down for current daily videos, this page has since been updated)

The video is from KCRA News (Sacramento CA) uploaded to YouTube on or about May 26, 2022. Allow a little over four minutes to watch the video.

Direct link to video from KCRA News on YouTube

2021 wildfire season: aerial support of Bridge Fire in California

 I am making good progress on my final article on the 1871 Peshtigo Fire (see my October 8th and 15th posts for more information). At the last minute I ended up getting my COVID booster shot this afternoon so decided to hold off on posting this final (for now) article on the Peshtigo Fire until Monday.

In the meantime, enjoy this eleven minute video of air tankers and helicopters working the 450 acre Bridge Fire in Auburn, California in early to mid September.

Direct link to video on YouTube uploaded by Alexander Nunez

2021 wildfire season: 7 acre brush fire -- San Diego County CA (May 22nd)

Thanks to my friends at NJFFS Section B10 for sharing a short video on May 23rd (videos updated daily) about a brush fire near the I-15 interstate in northern San Diego County, California. The brush fire, dubbed the Deer Fire, was first reported on May 22nd per this CAL FIRE San Diego Twitter post. Two S2-T tankers from Ramona Air Attack Base and about three helicopters responded to the wildfire to assist the firefighters on the ground in containing this fire. By late in the day on May 23rd, CAL FIRE San Diego reported that the Deer Fire was contained at 7.5 acres. The fire appeared to have started along the I-15. According to a report by CBS8 in San Diego (see the video that I embedded below), this brush fire may have started by a catalytic converter that came off a vehicle on the I-15, landing on the hill immediately adjoining the I-15.

I am always on the look out for videos showing air resources assisting wildland firefighters on the ground to fight a smaller brush fire. While this video is specific to California and the availability of CAL FIRE air resources, you can see what a difference a coordinated attack from the air and on the ground can make in keeping a brush fire on the smaller side. At the end of this video, you will learn about what California residents can do to protect their homes from wildfires. Again while specific to southern California, there are lessons here for all of us.

Direct link to video from CBS8 in San Diego

Aerial Firefighting Training: CAL FIRE helicopters

I know enough about aviation to know that it is important that any pilot go through their mandated recurrency training that depending on the type of pilot license they have the FAA requires annual or semi-annual training in the specific aircraft they fly. In the world of aerial firefighting this means two things. One is that each year they have to go through FAA mandated recurrency training for the specific aircraft that they will be flying. Once the pilot has completed their annual aircraft specific recurrency training they go through recurrency training mandated by the agency contract to fly fires. I know from reading old federal tanker contracts that this training to fly fires involves getting what is known as an initial attack card. A new pilot goes through an involved and detailed training period before they get their initial attack card. This initial attack card allows the pilot to fly a fire without air attack or a lead plane. Each year the pilots flying firefighting aircraft on contract with an agency have to renew their initial attack card which involves making some water drops. 

I just came across a video from 2015 from Rotorcraft Pro of CAL FIRE's helicopter training and preparation. To read more about CAL FIRE's aviation program go here.  At the time of this video CAL FIRE was flying Bell UH-1H Super Huey helicopters. CAL FIRE is in the process or has already upgraded all of their helicopter fleet to Sikorsky S70i helicopters (CAL FIRE Hawk) This video may be somewhat dated as it is specific to the Super Huey's they were flying in 2015, but I think that some of the training topics and exercises have applications, with appropriate reworking and modification, for the CAL FIRE Hawk as well as other aerial firefighting aircraft. I suspect that this video discusses both the FAA mandated annual recurrency training for the helicopter as well as training to renew their initial attack card. Enjoy

Direct link to video from Justhelicopters 

More on Discovery Channel's CAL Fire series

 I wrote last week about Discovery Channel's CAL Fire Series, see my January 6th post. I had not had a chance to watch the episode 1 "Sacrifice."Actually, I have watched the first episode twice, thanks to Discovery On Demand and recorded episode 2, "A Devil Comin' At You." Discovery is air the short lived CAL Fire series on Sunday nights at 10 PM. So far I know of three episodes. You should (I hope) be able to watch these episodes for free at the Discovery Channel CAL Fire watch now page. I have no idea how long Discovery will make these episodes available on their web site. Some of you may be interested in the review that Bill Gabbert, who was a wildland firefighter for 30 years, had to say about episode 1, his review may be found on this January 4th post on Wildfire Today.

I approached watching Discovery's CAL Fire series as a chance to watch and learn about how CAL Fire has fought some of the wildfires from the devastating 2020 wildfire season. As I understand it, Discovery imbedded some reporters with hi tech cameras for three months with CAL Fire companies as they fought wildfires. They also captured some off duty moments such as training, and preparing and cooking meals. But much of the focus is on the wildfires. Through these two episodes you hear firefighters talking fighting wildfires, the sacrifices they make and their love of the job. There is some discussion about the strategies they use to fight specific wildfires and the wildfires themselves. 

In episode 1, "Sacrifice", footage of engine companies fighting the Apple Fire (Riverside County) and the Ponderosa Fire (Shasta Fire). I won't get into details about these two fires as they are referred to in the episode. In episode 2, "A Devil Comin' At You" a different CAL Fire is showcased, fighting the River and the Carmel Fires in northern California, I believe but am not sure that both burned in Monterey County.  I am not sure, but I believe that I saw a NWS Incident Meteorologist give a weather briefing about a dry lightning forecast on the River and Carmel fires. Throughout each of these two episodes, I saw tankers and helicopters working the wildfires in support of the firefighters on the ground.

As I watched these two episodes, I reminded myself that I am looking at how CAL Fire fights wildfires with a focus on the 2020 wildfire season. While I believe that some of the basics of wildland firefighting may be the same, i.e. cutting line, felling trees, dozers, and aerial support (if available); what other state firefighting agencies and federal wildfire crews (US Forest Service, BLM, etc.) do will be different (size of wildfires, weather, topography, fuel types, etc.).

2020 wildfire season: IMETs fire season and CAL Fire series

I have been watching Discovery Channel's short series on CAL FIRE this afternoon, but am not yet finished with what I can watch at this time. A couple of friends who are or were wildland firefighters recommended that I watch this series. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today was a wildland firefighter  for about 30 years, he has a review on his website. Unfortunately, I forgot to record the episode that aired on the Discovery Channel on Sunday, January 3rd, I am hoping that I will be able to watch this episode. At this time, I can say that I am enjoying the clips that I have seen, after all writing about aerial wildland firefighting and related concerns is what I do. I hope to have more to say this later this week or early next week

In the meantime when I logged onto Facebook I got a notification that that the NWS IMETs (Incident Meteorologists) made a post summarizing their year, their number of missions are not different from what they shared earlier in December 2020, 188 missions in 2020 (see my December 14th post). It was their fourth busiest season. As I have been reflecting on the devastating 2020 wildfire season it is only fitting to share this end of year summary from the NWS IMETs on their 2020 season with some additional numbers. You did good work providing timely forecasts to the wildfires you worked on, working hard to be sure that the firefighters had the best forecast possible. Thank-you from the bottom of my heart for your service. IMETs save lives. If your ad blocking or tracking extension don't allow you to see this embedded post and you prefer not to disable your settings, you may find the NWS IMET Office's facebook summarizing their 2020 fire season here.

Jamuary 7. 2021: I was preoccupied yesterday afternoon, making this post quickly. I have gone in and made some revisions, adding some details. 

More about CAL FIRE's S2-T tankers - January 10th edition

I am returning to writing a little more about CAL FIRE’s S2-T Tankers. This article serves as a follow-up to two articles I wrote before Christmas, Reflections on CAL FIRE’s S2-T Tankers, Part 1 (December 16, 2019) and Part 2 (December 23, 2019)

This article is possible because of recent e-mails with an experienced CAL FIRE pilot.

First, he made a couple of corrections to part 1 that are reflected in the article. The most important correction is clarification on the number of S2-T’s in California. Twenty-two are assigned to twelve air attack bases with one or two S2-T’s assigned to each base. One, T-100 is a spare and is at McClellan Air Attack Base until needed. See the CAL FIRE pilot’s Association website for more information on CAL FIRE’s tanker bases, aircraft and other news.

He had a few things that he wants me to share with you using part 2 as a starting along with one of the earlier articles that I referenced in part 2, Reflections, S2-T's, SEATs and initial attack (May 24, 2009). So perhaps you will want to take a few minutes to review these two articles before going any further.

My friend started with initial attack,”97% of fires are stopped before 10 acres thanks to the rapid intervention and coordination of ground and air resources. Air (tankers and copters) are here to support the ground fire fighters and can't replace them. When retardant is dropped to stop the spread, buy time and contain the fire, it needs to be backed up by fire fighters.”

I asked him about dropping retardant on fires, he said “the perfect drop is a difficult equation and an eternal quest: perfect speed, height, timing, drift, line, quantity, and coverage level (note 1). Very humbling most of the time and very gratifying once in a while when it's achieved.”

Finally he talks about the airplane: “You need a good airplane, well maintained, a good tank system, good retardant (well mixed) and an experienced pilot to start, then you might have a chance to make a decent, safe, efficient, effective drop.”

Note 1. coverage level is the density of retardant in drop. Normally ranges from 1 to 7 and represents the number of gallons in a 100 square foot area (see  terminology on the Associatied Aerial Firefighters website.)

Reflections on CAL FIRE's S2-T tanker (part 1)

I would be remiss to write reflection pieces on air tankers and not include the Grumman S2-T Tracker flown by CAL FIRE. I am not quite sure how many S2-T's are currently flown by CAL FIRE. According to CAL FIRE's fact sheet (2005) on the S2-T there are 23 S2-T tankers in service. Twenty-two are assigned to twelve air attack bases with one or two S2-T’s assigned to each base. One, T-100 is a spare and is at McClellan Air Attack Base until needed.

I first learned of the S2-T in the spring of 2009 shortly after I decided to devote this blog to aerial wildland firefighting and related concerns. I have grown to love the S2-T and her pilots. S2-T's are based at air attack bases around California so they can easily and quickly be deployed to fly wildfires in support of the wildland firefighters on the ground. They do a lot of initial attack work and many times their quick response coupled with the wildland firefighters on the ground wildland fires can be put out while they are still small. And when that is not possible, they will continue to fly the fire with, the support of other air tankers and helicopters.

I do not live on the west coast, but I have visited southern California a couple times and stopped by Ramona Air Attack Base for a visit. The morning I visited, it was a quiet day and one of the S2-T's, T-71, was sitting on the ramp along with the OV-10 air attack plane. I was delighted to be able to take a tour of the base with some photos which I shared in my July 13 2012 post.

I found a very cool video, almost six minutes long, of footage shot from inside a S2-T tanker. According to a knowledgeable friend, the pilot is Bob Forbes, now retired, and the video was probably shot near Hemet California where his home base (Hemet-Ryan in Riverside County California) was located. I love videos that take me inside the cockpit of a tanker flying a fire. There is no audio, but I found the sound of the engines to be comforting. Enjoy.



Direct link to video

A closer look at Cal Fire's aviation program

I am a non-pilot member of the AOPA. Actually the AOPA makes no distinction between pilots and non-pilot's in their fee structure but for purposes of this blog it is important that I be clear that I am a non-pilot aviation enthusiast. The AOPA puts out a weekly video called AOPA Live, an interesting video about 25 to 30 minutes long with weekly aviation news. They do not only focus on general aviation as is evident by The AOPA Live episode on May 23, 2019. In that week's episode that had a report on CAL Fire's aviation program. Because the video was about 27 minutes long, I did not share it here. I recently found the clip devoted to Cal Fire's aviation program so I am sharing it here, a direct link to the clip from AOPA Live may be found here. AOPA Live has a youtube channel where I also found the video, and I am embedding that video below.

I like this video because you will hear from a S2-T pilot, Jimmy Ferreira about what is like to fly fires in an S2T. You will also learn about the Cal Fire program. While there are going to be differences between Cal Fire's S2T's and other tankers, Jimmy does give me an idea of what it is like to fly fires. Enjoy!

Thank-you Jimmy and stay safe.



Other links:
Cal Fire home page
Cal Fire Air Program
S2-T Air Tanker (pdf)
California Pilot's Association
California Pilot's Association Newsletters

RIP Cory Iverson

Cory Iverson, A CAL FIRE firefighter, died on December 14th fighting the Thomas Fire in Santa Barbara County, CA. Thoughts and prayers for his wife who is pregnant with their second child and their young daughter; his friends and CAL FIRE colleagues, and all who love him



Direct link to video report on Youtube from CBS Los Angeles

Thomas Fire (Ventura & Santa Barbara Counties, CA) grew over the weekend

Direct link to video from CBS San Fran Cisco Bay Area

While the Lilac Fire (San Diego County CA) is now at 80 percent containment having burned 4,100 acres the Thomas Fire, now in its eighth day, in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties California has grown over the weekend to 230,500 acres (15 percent containment).



Smoke images posted about 2 PM PDT on December 12th


Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today on the Thomas Fire: December 10th update and photos of east side.

Media reports
Washington Post (Dec 10th) nice article with photos and videos
Washington Post on Santa Ana Winds with graphics (great information with great graphics)
CNN (Dec. 11th) with a photo gallery
CBS2 Los Angeles photo gallery
Los Angeles Daily News article, discussion on containment