California firefighters are battling the historic blaze from the air, using a variety of effective and specialized aircraft to drop water and flame retardant over Los Angeles.
The state's fleet includes tactical aircraft, tanker aircraft, and helicopters. They all have specific roles and abilities, but they are working together as a unit to fight the fire that has been raging since Tuesday, killing 10 people and burning tens of thousands of acres.
The force's more than 60 planes and helicopters make it the department's largest aviation firefighting equipment force in the world, according to Cal Fire's website. The company's aircraft operate from 14 airfields and 11 helicopter bases across the state and can reach most fires within about 20 minutes.
A super scooper plane drops water on the Palisades fire in Pacific Palisades, California, Tuesday, January 7, 2025. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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Tactical aircraft often lead tankers, with the former providing direction and coordinates to tankers and firefighters on the ground. According to Reuters, most of California Fire's tactical aircraft are multi-mission North American Rockwell OV-10 twin-turboprop aircraft that served the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force until the 1990s.
A fleet of Cal Fire tankers then drops retardant onto the terrain below.
The Grumman S-2T tanker is powered by two turboprop engines, is the agency's workhorse, and can carry approximately 1,200 gallons of flame retardant. Cal Fire also operates larger C-130 Hercules four-engine turboprop aircraft that can release approximately 3,000 gallons per load.
Cal Fire owns a fleet of helicopters, including Bell UH-1H Super Hueys and Sikorsky S70i Black Hawk helicopters. Each of these helicopters can deliver water to buckets suspended below the aircraft to extinguish flames.
John Mixon, a former U.S. Coast Guard helicopter search and rescue captain, told Fox News Digital that the bucket, known as a Bambi bucket, can drop water with precision.
“We can reach any lake or reservoir, lower a bucket into the water, and deliver the payload with pinpoint precision. So it's a little bit more precise than a fixed wing, but it's a little less volume.” Suppressant or water Either,” Mixon said.
“Of course, depending on the size of the fire, a helicopter can carry enough water to extinguish the fire. It can also fill the ground with water to prevent the fire from spreading. The size of the bucket is It depends on the capacity of the helicopter carrying it; some can be as little as 70 gallons, while others can be over 2,000 gallons.
A helicopter drops water on the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles on Thursday, January 9, 2025. (Ethan Swope/Associated Press)
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Two Canadair CL-415 Super Scooper turboprop aircraft were also deployed to fight the deadly inferno.
According to Military.com, the Pentagon announced Friday that two C-130 Hercules military aircraft equipped with fire suppression systems are currently on the scene.
Six more C-130 aircraft are expected to be ready by Sunday. Some aircraft were used for cargo purposes and had to be re-equipped with fire extinguishing systems. The fire occurred outside the traditional extinguishing period.
Scooper planes refuel by descending into calm waters and skimming the water's surface to load cargo into tanks. Then, release water to extinguish the fire and repeat the process until you need to refuel.
Super Scoopers are loaded with seawater from the Pacific Ocean, which is fairly rare and typically avoided because it can damage equipment, infrastructure and wildlife, said former New York City Fire Department deputy deputy commissioner. Frank Papalia, a fire safety expert at Global Security. the group told Fox News Digital.
Salt is corrosive and can damage equipment such as hoses and pumps, so fresh water is recommended whenever possible.
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On January 9, 2025, a plane pulls water from the sea to help extinguish the Palisades Fire in the mountains. (Sandy Hooper/Imagun)
“In this case, your city is being burned down, so using salt water is not such a bad thing,” he told FOX News Digital.
Also, fire hydrants do not use salt water because it is not corrosion resistant, but fire engines can use salt water. You need to get close enough and then clean thoroughly afterwards.
Flame retardants are not dumped directly onto the fire. Instead, chemicals are dropped in front of a fire to direct its course or slow its progress, giving ground crews the opportunity to control or extinguish it. Flame retardants can also be released to protect homes and critical locations and keep access roads open.
This substance is usually made from a mixture of water, fertilizer, thickener, and red dye. Red dye is added to help firefighters see the retardant against the landscape.
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The pilots who fly these aircraft are known as aviation firefighting pilots, or water bombers.
Mixon said the pilots come from a variety of backgrounds, but many have previously served in the military.
Each type of aircraft typically requires specialized training to handle its unique features and systems. Most aviation firefighting pilots already have years of flight experience before taking to the skies in a firefighting aircraft.
To become a helicopter pilot, you must accumulate between 1,500 and 4,000 hours of helicopter flight time as a pilot-in-command (PIC), responsible for aircraft safety and operations, according to Hillsboro Aero Academy, an Oregon-based flight school. There is a need.
The flight hours provide aspiring pilots with important knowledge of aircraft systems, mission training, and fire behavior, and require candidates to demonstrate that they can operate a firefighting helicopter in difficult conditions such as mountainous terrain. . They also need technical skills to work closely with ground crews and other aircraft during missions, as well as knowledge of how fires spread and how aircraft can be used to extinguish them.
A tanker drops flame retardant as the Palisades Fire grows in the hills of Topanga, California, on January 9, 2025. (David Swanson/AFP via Getty Images)
The working hours of future fixed-wing pilots are similar.
“All of our crew members are highly trained for specialized missions,” Mixon said. “This is not a secondary mission for Cal Fire personnel or Department of Defense or Forest Service fire personnel. Just like the U.S. Coast Guard, they are very specialized in what they do.
“It's very dangerous, it's very difficult, but they're very highly trained, specialized for that specific mission.”
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One of the most obvious dangers is flying low over hilly terrain in high wind conditions, which they are currently battling, Mixon said.
Mixon noted that these crews also have to navigate through smoke and avoid everyday hazards such as other aircraft, terrain, and radio towers.
Strong winds in Santa Ana prevented fire engines from being dispatched earlier this week, citing safety risks.
Meanwhile, a Canadian super scooper was also hit by a drone. The impact created a fist-sized hole in the water, causing the plane's wing to fall off. No injuries were reported. Cal Fire said it expects the plane to be back in the air by Monday.
Reuters contributed to this report.
