Los Angeles County Fire Department

The Air Operations Section, or "Air Attack" as it was known then, began in 1957 when the first pilot, Roland J. Barton, and a Bell 47 helicopter were acquired from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

During these earliest years of helicopter fire fighting, Bart established himself as the leading pioneer in that field. Through his inventiveness, he developed many fire fighting accessories and techniques, including the fixed 100 gallon "LA County" drop tank for water and retardant drops; and hose trays for the laying of hose lines up mountainsides. Through the effective application of his machine and its accessories, he proved the usefulness of the helicopter beyond what limited utility the Department's administration had expected from such a small machine.

After ten years of success and hard work, Bart and the Department's management were successful in convincing the Board of Supervisors that $350,000 would be a worthwhile investment in a larger Bell 204-B helicopter fitted with a 320 gallon drop tank, which would be able to deliver more water or retardant on the fire line per hour than conventional fixed-wing air tankers -- and deliver it more accurately. It would also be able to carry full crews of fire fighters and be capable of providing internal transportation of rescue victims. The larger 204-B quickly proved its worth and was soon followed by the acquisition of larger helicopters.

We now operate one Model Bell 206-B III Jet Ranger, three Bell 205A-1's, and four Bell 412's.

The 206-B was initially chosen to fill the air ambulance role as well as to provide a faster vehicle than the Model 47, for command, observation, and communications.

The Bell 412 was selected as our next generation replacement for the 204/205 series for its twin engine reliability, greater speed, smoother quieter flight, IFR capability and other technological advancements.

	BELL 206-B	BELL 205A-1	BELL 412
SEATING CAPACITY	5	15	15
LITTERS	2	3	3
TANK	100 GAL	360 GAL	360 GAL
MAX GROSS WEIGHT	3,200 LBS	10,500 LBS	11,900 LBS
SHAFT HORSEPOWER	400	1,400	1,800
CRUISING SPEED	100 Kts	100 Kts	120 Kts
SERVICE CEILING	20,000 ft	20,000 ft	20,000 ft

The larger 205's and 412's are the real workhorses for both fire fighting and rescue work because of their greater capacity and superior performance. For example, they can carry 360 gallons of water or retardant, or a nine member fire suppression crew in addition to the helicopter crew of one pilot and one Air Operations Crewmember.

Almost all of our Air Operations activities are in the mountainous and rural areas of the County where the helicopter may be used to its greatest advantage. Although the Department has jurisdiction over a great deal of urban area, (2165 square miles) the helicopter operation is not primarily involved in structure fire fighting unless exposures are threatened within or adjacent to the brush areas.

On all brush fires, the three closest helicopters are responded on the first alarm from fire suppression camps located strategically throughout the County. The helicopters are on standby with fire suppression crews during the daylight hours of the brush season. After landing their crews at the fire, the helicopters rendezvous with an engine company which has been assigned to the pre-planned firefighting helispot nearest to the fire.

These helispots (over 100) have been selected to meet the operating requirements of the helicopter and for an unlimited water source, usually a hydrant. The assigned engine company makes the necessary hose lay and pumps to the helicopters.

Average fill time for the 360 gallon tank is about 1 minute, and our average turn-around time on drops is about 5 minutes, including fill time. At this rate, each large helicopter can deliver over 4,000 gallons per hour, which in many cases exceeds the performance of larger fixed-wing air tankers, particularly when their retardant base is located some distance from the fire. Due to the differences in accuracy and general tactics, the helicopters are generally involved in direct attack for extinguishment in direct support of ground units, while the fixed wing provide indirect or parallel attack by building retardant lines on the unmanned portions of the fire.

The latest version of our drop tank provides split drop capability (salvo, 2 singles, or trail drop) as well as onboard injection of Class A foam concentrate for retardant drops. Additionally, we have installed a snorkel on one of our Bell 205A-1 helicopters as part of a program to evaluate its effectiveness in quick initial attack. This will be put to use during the 1999 fire season.

The Air Operations Section has three mobile fuel trucks and two fuel tanker trailers in addition to underground fuel facilities located at three of the standby camp locations and Barton Heliport, our home base.

On fire fighting operations, we maintain a balanced fuel state in order to carry a maximum water load. Periodically, we take on 30 to 50 gallons of fuel at the same time that we fill our water tank. With our closed connection refueling system, there is no down time for refueling, so we may start the helicopter before daybreak on an extended fire situation, and never shut down until after dark.

In addition to water or retardant dropping, our fire fighting operations include the transportation of personnel and equipment to and from the fire lines, aerial reconnaissance, infra-red scanning and mapping, and providing a command platform for Department officers. Special state-of-the-art infra-red scanning and color video equipment enables us to locate hot spots outside the fire line not visible to the naked eye and map their location so they may be worked out before the temperature increases and the winds come up.

The rapid response combination of initial attack helicopters with fire suppression crews, followed by drops in direct support of the crews and dozers, has proven to have substantially reduced the number of large acreage watershed fires. This kind of success has been the principal factor in the expansion and progress of Air Operations. It goes without saying that the Department's administration sees the helicopter as one of the most versatile and effective tools available for watershed firefighting.

Our off fire season activities are primarily in the area of prevention. We re-seed the burned watershed areas to help stabilize the soil and prevent mud slides during our rainy season. We transport crews from their camps to and from work projects in the mountains, maintaining a network of miles of firebreaks, trails, and fire roads. We also use the Helitorch and Aerial Ignition Device as a prescribed burning tool in our vegetation management program.

During the 1998 fire season we were very pleased to have the opportunity to evaluate a one-of-a-kind aerial firefighting tool.......the Sikorky "FIREHAWK."™ This variant of the Sikorsky UH-60L BLACKHAWK was the result of many years of persistent effort on the part of Senior Pilot Lee Benson and others on the Department, in cooperation with Sikorsky Aircraft, to produce this prototype helicopter. Equipped with a computer controlled 1,000 gallon fixed drop tank and a 1,000 gallon per minute snorkel filling system, it is capable of delivering large quantities of water or foam on a wildland fire in a minimum amount of time. All of the Department pilots who had the opportunity to fly the FIREHAWK™ during its evaluation period were duly impressed with the remarkable capabilities of this magnificent machine. Department officers are now reviewing the data collected during the evaluation and will use it to help them determine the future aircraft needs of the Section.

For the sixth year, we again contracted for two Canadair CL-415 "SuperScooper" fixed-wing amphibian water bombers in the initial attack role. They are capable of scooping up to 1,600 gallons of water from nearby sources and making direct attack on the fire line with water or water mixed with Class A foam.

We also contracted for two Sikorsky S-64 SkyCrane Helitankers, each capable of snorkeling over 2,000 gallons of water from nearby sources into a fixed tank, and delivering it with remarkable accuracy to the fire line in the form of water or water mixed with Class A foam. One of these aircraft was shared with the US Forest Service and the other was for exclusive use in Los Angeles County.

Because of the extremely dry conditions, these contract aircraft were staffed from early September until the third week of January when we finally got some measurable precipitation in the Los Angeles County area.

While firefighting and related prevention activities accounted for nearly all of our activity in the first thirteen years, our role and level of activity in the EMS (Emergency Medical Services) field has increased dramatically since the inception of our Air Ambulance program in 1970.

Our Air Ambulance service, which began as a six month pilot program under a federal grant, has graduated from a Bell 206 with a pilot and an EMT-1 crewmember, to three Bell 205 or 412 Air Squads, each staffed with a pilot and two fire fighter paramedics. Two Air Squads are staffed 24 hours a day, while the other is staffed during daylight hours only.

In1985 the Department initiated a Reserve Physician Program, whereby one or more of the Air Squads is periodically staffed with a Reserve Physician. This is usually done on week-ends and holidays when our response loads are typically the highest. Only emergency physicians, trained and certified in that specialty, and qualified as paramedic base station physicians are selected. The criterion are intentionally strict and all services are on a voluntary basis.

This volunteer program allows us to provide a higher level of emergency medical care to the public without any increase in operating costs. In addition, the emergency physician provides one-on-one teaching and continuing education for individual paramedics.

The Air Squads carry essentially the same complement of medical equipment and drugs as the ground rescue squads, but don't carry any extrication equipment as a part of their standard inventory. They are, however, equipped with a winch type rescue hoist with 250 feet of cable. On occasion, they will rendezvous with units equipped with the "Jaws of Life" or air bags while enroute to the scene of incidents reported to indicate a need for such equipment, particularly in cases when the response time of that equipment can be appreciably shortened. Similarly, we transport Triage Teams, Hazardous Materials Squads, or Urban Search & Rescue teams to incidents in the outlying areas of the County or to incidents where surface transportation would be unduly delayed.

Neonatal hospital transfers with isolettes and organ transplants are also a part of our EMS activities. Naturally we have the ability to communicate directly with our base station hospital for drug orders, etc., and we can send them EKG strips at the scene or in flight while enroute to the hospital.

Our rescue responses include accidents involving vehicles of every imaginable sort.... motorcycles, bicycles, hang gliders, buses, cars, trucks, ATV's (all terrain vehicles) 4 x 4's, horses, aircraft, boats, tractors, etc.. We also respond on hikers, fall victims, snake bites, heart attacks, strokes, gunshot wounds...... the whole gamut of medical rescues.

While safety always comes first in all of our flying, there is an even greater emphasis on it in our night operations, which include rescue and fire fighting missions. Though equipped with a 30,000,000 candle power "NightSun" high intensity light, if the pilot becomes uncomfortable at any point during the run whether for weather or other reasons, he simply cancels and the mission is effected by other means. On rescue responses, ground squads are dispatched simultaneously at night, or during the day in marginal weather to cover such eventualities. These resources are returned as soon as the Air Squad ascertains that they will be able to accomplish the mission.

All emergency responses are directed by fire dispatchers. All other flights of a more routine nature require official requests through channels and must be approved by the Chief of Air Operations or higher authority depending upon the nature and circumstances of the flight.

Pilot personnel are hired from the civilian helicopter industry and are carefully screened and selected through a thorough background check, an oral interview and flight check process in order to validate their qualifications to perform the demanding duties of the position. Some of the basic minimum requirements in order to apply for the position are:

The aircraft maintenance staff are all FAA licensed airframe and powerplant mechanics, also hired from the civilian helicopter industry, and equally as carefully screened and selected for their helicopter experience and areas of specialization.

Firefighter Paramedic personnel are assigned to the Section through the Department's bid assignment system. These Air Operations Crewmember positions are very desirable and generally require at least 8 years seniority to obtain a successful bid. Once assigned, they are required to complete an extensive 80 hour course in flight operations, flight safety, specialized equipment such as hoist operations and urban search and rescue techniques, flight physiology, and other subjects pertaining to the care and transport of the sick and injured in helicopters.

This careful selection of the best-suited aircraft for the mission and the most qualified personnel has provided us with an Air Operations Section of which we are indeed proud. Not only for our safety record and our success, but for the world wide reputation of being innovators in our field.

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