Skip to main content
Donate

Forest Service Enlisting Night-Flying Helicopter to Fight Fires

By Clarissa Wei
June 4, 2013
Support Provided By
powerhousefire2-600

Powerhouse Fire/ Photo: Courtesy Zak Holman

The U.S. Forest Service will begin using night-flying helicopters to fight fires over the Angeles National Forest this month. These operations were previously not available due to restrictions put in place in the 1970s following a tragic helicopter crash.

"The restoration of this capability by the Forest Service -- though long overdue -- could not come at a more critical time, with one wildfire burning across Southern California and more expected throughout the summer," Representative Adam Schiff of Burbank said in a press release.

A fixed-wing aircraft and a helicopter will be deployed this week to fight fires across the Los Angeles region. The helicopter will be used for dropping water and flame-retardant on fires but the Forest Service plans to eventually use it for emergency medical transport and aerial management as well, according to KABC.

The decision to allow the helicopter follows studies that indicate helicopter night operations can keep down the risks and costs of wildfires.

"Attacking wildfires at night from the air -- when temperatures and winds are down and humidity is up -- is an important tool, so resumption of Forest Service flights comes not a moment too soon," Senator Dianne Feinstein stated.

Controversy over the ban came to a head after the 2009 Station Fire. The Forest Service was subject of public criticism and congressional inquiries for how it handled controlling the blaze shortly after it began. It scorched 250 square miles in the Angeles National Forest, becoming the largest in L.A. County history.

Support Provided By
Read More
An oil pump painted white with red accents stands mid-pump on a dirt road under a blue, cloudy sky with a green, grassy slope in the background.

California’s First Carbon Capture Project: Vital Climate Tool or License to Pollute?

California’s first attempt to capture and sequester carbon involves California Resources Corp. collecting emissions at its Elk Hills Oil and Gas Field, and then inject the gases more than a mile deep into a depleted oil reservoir. The goal is to keep carbon underground and out of the atmosphere, where it traps heat and contributes to climate change. But some argue polluting industries need to cease altogether.
By Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters
Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
By Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters
A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
By Emma Foehringer Merchant, Inside Climate News