Until this wildfire season, all the air attacks CAL FIRE has launched with its own planes and helicopters have been limited to daylight hours only.
A new fleet of Sikorsky S-70i FIREHAWK helicopters is changing that for California’s statewide firefighting department, allowing CAL FIRE to douse flames in the dark. At CAL FIRE’s Aviation Management Unit at McClellan Park in Sacramento County, ABC10 met up with CAL FIRE’s Helicopter Program Manager and Chief Helicopter Pilot Ben Berman, who gave us a tour of the new CAL FIRE HAWKS.
“It’s the Jeep Wrangler of the sky,” Berman said with a smile.
CAL FIRE has nine of the HAWKS now, with three more being built and money for four additional ones approved in this year’s state budget, at $25 million each.
“This utilizes lasering gyros for our attitude indicators,” Berman said, standing beside one of the CAL FIRE HAWKS. “It’s definitely state-of-the-art.”