A Los Angeles County Fire Department Firehawk helicopter (@lacofireairops) makes a drop while assisting the Ventura County Fire Department at the Princeton Fire near the 118 Freeway between Moorpark & Simi Valley. (? by #lacofd Volunteer Photographer @resqric Rick McClure)
This video shows an aggressive aerial attack by helicopters from Los Angeles County as they assisted firefighters on the ground at a July 12 fire along the 14 Freeway north of Los Angeles.
VIDEO: Climb aboard a @LACo_FD #Firehawk #helicopter as it drops water on a fast moving Southern California #wildfire pic.twitter.com/Brt7qwX7xN
— LACoFireAirOps (@LACoFireAirOps) June 25, 2015
These photos (via huuweee on Instagram and ABC7) show one of the Los Angeles County helicopters making a rather extraordinary landing on a narrow rock jetty. They transported one person who was injured when a boat crashed into the jetty.
As they have done for the last 21 fire seasons, the Los Angeles County Fire Department has contracted for two water-scooping air tankers. The CL-415s, leased from the Quebec government, started at the first of this month and will be able to carry up to 1,620 gallons of water with each drop. Due to numerous fires late in 2013 and the Colby Fire in January, 2014, they worked several weeks beyond their planned December termination date last year.
The department also brought on a Helitanker, an Erickson Air-Crane S-64F that can hold 2,650 gallons of water or retardant.
These three aircraft join the Department’s own fleet of nine helicopters to help County firefighters on the ground suppress fires during the windy Santa Ana season.
Today I ran across this video of a Los Angeles County Blackhawk helicopter making a precision water drop, filmed five months ago.
The Blackhawk helicopters of Los Angeles County Fire Department are featured in a two-minute video advertisement for General Electric aircraft engines.