In the first critical hours of the wildfires that swept through wine country this month, firefighters struggled to defend homes without the help of water-dropping aircraft.
Fire officials said there were no helicopters or planes capable of slowing the fast-moving fires the night of Sunday, Oct. 8, as flames swept into Sonoma and Napa county neighborhoods, eventually destroying more than 5,000 structures and killing more than 40 people.
It was not until the next morning that aircraft were able to move into the fire zone, they said. The problem, officials said, is that there are no firefighting aircraft in the region capable of flying at night.
Officials say that in the case of the wind-whipped wine country fires, they doubt more air support that night would have made a major difference, but they say it’s a resource gap they plan to fill going forward.