When Santa Clarita residents think of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, most might think of the lights and sirens from a fire truck or fire engine, but not always helicopters.

While the LACoFD helicopters are not typically seen daily or the first thing that pops into a person’s mind when thinking of the Fire Department, these aerial resources play a significant role in assisting firefighters and paramedics on the ground every day.

The Fleet

The Los Angeles County Fire Department currently has eight different helicopters used for tackling a wide variety of missions.

The eight helicopters in the department’s fleet includes three Sikorsky fire hawk helicopters and five Bell 412 helicopters, said Pat Sprengel, battalion chief for the Los Angeles County Fire Air Operations (Air Ops).

The department purchased two additional fire hawk helicopters in 2017 and is currently being equipped with additional equipment in Colorado to fight fires, according to officials.

“I anticipate the fourth fire hawk showing up either September or October this year and the fifth aircraft showing up November,” Sprengel said. “That will give us five fire hawks and five Bell 412s.”

These eight, and soon-to-be 10, helicopters are stationed out of Barton Heliport in Pacoima and serve the 2,300 square miles and 4 million residents the county supports, Sprengel said.

All of the helicopters are equipped with the same medical equipment that ground paramedics have, a hoist with 290 feet of cable capable of lifting 600 lbs and a water tank, according to Fire officials.

Each morning, three different helicopters are sent to different parts of the county to be ready to tackle any mission they may be needed for, whether that may be airlifting someone to a hospital, hoisting an injured hiker, rescuing someone from the water or battling a brush fire.

The Response

These two types of helicopters conduct the same missions as each other. However, some are better suited for certain types of missions.

The department tries placing these different types of helicopters in parts of the county where they are best suited.

For example, the helicopter that is utilized for Santa Clarita, which is staged in Lancaster, is generally a fire hawk, according to officials.

Due to the Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys consisting of a high volume of vegetation that could ignite at any time, the department keeps the fire hawk near these locations due to them being able to hold 1,000 gallons of water, compared to the 360 gallons of water the Bell 412s hold.

Also, when major crashes occur in the Grapevine area, these fire hawks are able to transport more patients to the hospital at once than a Bell 412 can, according to officials.

Although the fire hawk is capable of conducting hoist rescues, the smaller Bell 412 could be more effective for hoisting injured hikers out of tight canyons because they are more maneuverable.

The Firefight From The Sky

When a brush fire is reported, three of the closest helicopters are typically dispatched to the fire.

Two helicopters from the county are sent and one from the Los Angeles City Fire Department.
The two agencies have an agreement that if one receives reports of a brush fire, the other will send one of their helicopters, according to Fire officials.

The department does this so that they can make sure they do not exhaust all their helicopters at once, and therefore still have units available if a hoist or airlift is needed somewhere in the county.

During each brush response, the captain responsible for the area where the fire is burning will assign a unit to man a helispot, according to Fire officials.

The helispot is where helicopters are able to go and land to refill their tanks from a fire engine or get fuel during large fires.

The helispots are mostly used by the Bell 412s and helicopters from the Los Angeles City Fire Department due to them not being able to hover over a water source and refill their tanks on their own, like the fire hawk is able to do, according to officials.

See Related: What Is In The Sky? A Guide To Helicopters Operating In The Santa Clarita Valley

“The fire hawks are capable of snorkeling water from different bodies of water,” according to Fire officials.

When the fire hawks are snorkeling water, they are able to fill their 1,000-gallon tank in one minute, according to officials.

The helicopters used by the LACoFD and city department only drop water, according to officials.

The air tankers, which are typically jets, will drop phos-chek, a fire retardant, in front of the fire to make the brush less flammable, whereas the helicopters will drop water directly on the fire.

“We are very fortunate in L.A. County to get a very robust air resource response,” said Sprengel. “That means we pull a large number of aircraft to put quick water on the fire. With that, we’ve got to have some sort of coordination of the aircraft.”

The Coordination

During large brush fires when multiple agencies are involved and multiple additional aircraft are added, such as the fixed-winged aircraft or additional helicopters from other departments, there needs to be someone to coordinate all the aircraft, according to officials.

One of the helicopters, preferably a Bell 412, will be assigned as the helicopter coordinator, (HelCo), Sprengel said.

HelCo is a helicopter with a pilot and either a crew member or a chief officer flying dedicated to coordinating the aircraft, Sprengel said.

“That is his sole job in the air: to coordinate the aircraft so they don’t hit each other in the air, and second, to have some sort of plan and making sure it is coordinated with the ground resources,” he said.

One common problem that aircraft over brush fires have is drones, and fire crews in the air are urging the public to realize that these devices can cause a helicopter to go down, potentially killing everyone in the helicopter and anyone near the crash site, according to officials.

However, without drones in their airspace, Air Ops officials are able to conduct their multifaceted mission of battling fires and saving lives.

The next time a white and yellow helicopter flies overhead, remember these aerial resources are there for when the unexpected may happen.

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