'Stable. Safe. Powerful': Cal Fire pilots say Fire Hawk 'gets the job done'
Fierce California wildfires are responsible for widespread destruction and loss of life throughout the state's history.
Anticipating a continued and heightened need for air assists for crews and equipment on the ground, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire, is building upon its air fleet efficiency.
Cal Fire has a fleet of more than 60 rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. Tanker and helitack bases up and down California are home to those resources.
The placement of those aircraft is all strategic. Cal Fire wants to keep response times to fires on forestry department land short, and when crews get there, they want their efforts to be productive.
"Fires are getting more intense, and they're happening more often," said Chris Renner, a training team helicopter pilot at Cal Fire’s McClellan air tanker base. "It's great that we are evolving and we are getting a quicker, faster aircraft that's also more powerful and can take more water to the fight."
Part of that evolution is a transition among Cal Fire's helitack capabilities.
Renner, a former military-turned-forestry wildfire pilot, explained to KCRA 3 how the recent addition of 12 Sikorsky S70i helicopters is a newer tool in Cal Fire's aerial firefighting arsenal.
"The Blackhawk is… the Army's 'utility' helicopter," Renner said. "Cal Fire is basically using it in the same exact way. In a utility role."
Renner is part of a team training and transitioning pilots at helitack bases across the state to fight fires with the Fire Hawk. It's a process that won't happen overnight since the conversion can't interrupt fire fighting operations during fire season, but all helitack bases will be converted to Fire Hawk bases, according to Renner.
"It's stable, safe, powerful and it gets the job done. You can haul troops. You can drop water. We can get there fast," Renner said of the Fire Hawk's versatility. "It's a multi-role aircraft and that's exactly what Cal Fire needed."
The Hawks can swiftly whisk a six-person firefighting team and captain to the front lines of fires.
"We insert them as close as we can to the fire," Renner said. "They go out and start working the fire while the aircraft goes back, gets water and starts supporting them with water dropping."
Nearly two years ago, Cal Fire began the process of converting its 10 helitack bases into Fire Hawk bases.
Starting with its Chico location, it is slowly retiring its fleet of Bell UH-1H Super Huey helicopters.
Next on the horizon for the aviation program. Cal Fire acquired several C-130H Hercules air tankers.
It will begin the process of bringing on those resources at its air tanker bases within a couple of years.
The helitack crews' work is part of Cal Fire's broader air assault mission on any fire it responds to.
"We strive to have fixed-wing and rotary-wing over any fire in California within 20-minutes," said Dusty Martin, battalion chief at Cal Fire's McClellan air tanker base, as he discussed the importance of air support for ground crews.
"They're eyes for us in the sky. They can help direct us to get into the fire," Martin explained. "When we put the fire retardant down, it buys us some time. All of our aircraft are another tool in the big toolbox that we have for Cal Fire."
The pilots and personnel behind Cal Fire's aviation program are looking toward continued growth and maximization of current resources – all for the sake of protecting lives and wildland across California.
"Going out and stomping out a fire, then high-fiving everybody… It's a really good feeling," Renner said.