With fire season heating up in Southern California, firefighters unveiled a new “fire hydrant” for helicopters on Monday that could drastically reduce turnaround times for water drops in remote areas.
Set on a 1,700-gallon metal water tank, the Remotely Activated Snorkel Site uses robot-controlled valves to tap into an area’s municipal water system, allowing quick access for snorkel helicopters that otherwise would have to spend valuable minutes flying to a reservoir or other water source. The new technology, being field tested in Anaheim Hills, is the first of its kind in the country, officials from the Orange County Fire Authority and Anaheim Fire & Rescue said in a news conference Monday.