If the fire was too mighty, and resisted their efforts to keep it at bay, they could transition from initial attack firefighting responsibilities to establishing helibase operations necessary to support an extended attack (aka a multiple shift fire). And if that didn’t work, they could coordinate the ferrying in of additional resources via the helicopter. One of the ways they could keep it small was by leveraging their ship for water bucket drops. So they decided to get a small group of highly-trained firefighters on-scene, fast, and see if they could keep it small. They needed lightning fast response for initial attack. The chaparral and chamise-covered hills of SoCal are notorious for sparking fast, Santa Ana-driven fires, and CAL FIRE felt like they needed resources to match their fires. The helicopter was an ideal resource for delivering this new firefighting force. However, in Southern California, because the hillsides were often covered in brush instead of trees, a helicopter could hover and have firefighters hop out. While fire managers in the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies had been using smokejumpers to fight backcountry fires since 1940, they weren’t widely utilized in southern California. The helicopter was perfectly suited for California fire operations. ![]() Back in 1960, the California Division of Forestry (now CAL FIRE) began experimenting with helicopters to support wildfire operations. If not, the ropes come out and they rappel out down the line. ![]() Sometimes Mother Nature provides an easily accessible helispot for them to land and unload. For over 50 years, “ men and who were light in weight and tough in muscle and fortitude ” have been riding helicopters into fires. If that doesn’t get your heart racing, you might want to check your pulse for signs of life.
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