A Bombardier Superscooper in action during an earlier fire.
In the past three days, wildfires fanned by 70-mph Santa Ana winds have destroyed at least 1500 homes in Southern California and forced an estimated 300,000 people to evacuate. Firefighters continue to battle 17 blazes that have burned more than 350,000 acres; a dozen fires rage out of control.
In the mountainous terrain in sprawling Los Angeles County, water bombers are a key tool for fighting the flames, says Capt. Ed Lozano of the L.A. County Fire Department. The department's aircraft include two Bombardier 415 Superscoopers planes and four Sikorsky S-70 Firehawk helicopters. "Our entire fleet is in use right now because of the number of blazes we're battling," Lozano says.
The county's hardest hit areas include Lake Castaic and Agua Dulce near Santa Clarita, 45 miles northwest of downtown L.A, and Malibu Canyon, 28 miles west. The Superscoopers are used to dump a lot of water—up to 1621 gallons per flight—across large swaths of land, Lozano says, while Sikorskys, which can carry up 1000 gallons, have the advantage of pinpoint accuracy due to their hovering ability.
Though aircraft are critical fire fighting tools, wind conditions and poor visibility can often ground them. "Any time you have winds between 25 to 35 mph, it's at the pilots' discretion whether they fly," Lozano says. "In the canyons, the winds can be even stronger and the turbulence makes flying unsafe."
Still, with so many fires currently threatening homes and property in L.A. County, the aircraft don't remain idle for long. "If it's windy in one area, we'll deploy to a different site," Lozano says. —Emily Masamitsu