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The fight from the sky against the fires in Los Angeles

2025-01-18 09:18:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

For more than a week, the skies above Los Angeles have been buzzing with helicopters, planes and drones battling the most destructive wildfires in Southern California history.

Helicopters in particular, capable of dropping large volumes of water with precision, have helped turn the tide against the wind-stirred wildfires that have killed at least 27 people and engulfed thousands of buildings.

The two largest fires, Eaton and Palisades, are still active and have burned a total of about 40,000 acres.

Many of the helicopters zipping back and forth over LA belong to Cal Fire, the government agency tasked with protecting California from these disasters.

For the pilots and helicopter crews - dumping water, refueling and working tirelessly to avoid crashes and burns - the past 11 days have been career-defining and physically exhausting.

By participating in one of the most ambitious airstrikes on a wildfire ever, the Cal Fire team has created new tactics and learned lessons that they hope will help others combat the growing number of wildfires around the world.

The fight from the sky against the fires in Los Angeles

This is their story. When a fire driven by hurricane-force winds broke out in the Palisades on January 7, Cal Fire joined an unprecedented operation to extinguish it, consisting of the National Guard, the city of Los Angeles and other private fire companies.

Strong winds made the work of helicopters quite difficult as it was dangerous to fly.

Once the winds slowed enough, aerial firefighters joined the fray and never gave up.

From a hastily assembled helicopter base at the Camarillo airport about 40 miles to the west, Cal Fire began flying missions 24 hours a day, hitting the Palisades Fire with hundreds of thousands of gallons of water dropped from specially equipped helicopters known as Firehawks.

The Cal Fire helicopter crew had one job: slow down the fire so their fellow firefighters on the ground could successfully contain the blaze. It's a task their helicopters are perfectly designed to perform.

In the mountains and canyons of the Palisades region, helicopters can wade through the fray and get as close to the flames as possible. By Wednesday, January 8, the Pacific Palisades fire had grown from 10 acres to more than 2,900 acres.

Matt Lane fought the fires for hours.

The fight from the sky against the fires in Los Angeles

"It was a very heavy firefight, one of the busiest airspaces I've ever been in. Many structures are being threatened," he said.

It's a 10-minute flight from Camarillo Airport, the main helicopter landing area, to Los Angeles. Crews raced back and forth, taking water from the Encino Reservoir and releasing it repeatedly in an attempt to stem the fire's advance.

By the end of the day, two people had died in a new fire that started near Altadena, almost 70,000 people were under evacuation orders and emergency services were stretched to the limit.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency.

Several agencies, municipalities, and private companies flew in to fight the Palisades fire. All those helicopters and planes landing in a relatively small area create a very, very busy airspace.

That's where Cal Fire captains like Williamson come in.

The fight from the sky against the fires in Los Angeles

They hover a thousand feet above the area in helicopters like the Bell 429. Cal Fire is using versions equipped with multiple AM ??and FM radios and night vision capabilities.

Digital displays in the cockpit allow the crew to see all the other helicopters participating in the fire. Bright lights illuminate their path at night.

From above, they can coordinate multiple aircraft to drop their water on the same target, extinguishing the flames for the ground team./ CNA