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Palisades resident Patrick Golling talks about his family’s response to the California wildfires during an appearance on ‘Varney & Co.’
A multitude of planes and helicopters are helping to fight wildfires in the Los Angeles area.
Wildfires have been raging in the Los Angeles area for a week, with five fires currently active in Los Angeles, Ventura and Riverside counties as of late Friday afternoon, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
Cal Fire currently has more than 60 aircraft and helicopters within its firefighting fleet, and the aircraft in its fleet have been heavily involved in the ongoing effort to fight the flames from above.
A firefighter stands atop a fire truck battling the Palisades Fire as it burns homes on the Pacific Coast Highway amid a strong wind storm on January 8, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images/Getty Images)
It uses Rockwell OV-10 aircraft “as the primary command and control platform in wildland incidents,” according to Cal Fire’s “Firefighting Aircraft Reconnaissance Guide.”
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These planes can operate at a maximum speed of 258 miles per hour.
Cal Fire also counts three twin-turboprop King Air A200 aircraft among its “aerial tactical aircraft.”
On its pages dedicated to the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst Wildfires, Cal Fire noted that “numerous firefighting tankers from across the State are conducting firefighting missions as conditions permit.”
The department uses Grumman S-2T and Lockheed C-130H aircraft as air tankers.
Its purpose is “the rapid delivery of an initial attack of fire retardant to wildfires,” according to Cal Fire.
A CalFire plane drops fire retardant on the Davis Winery during the Glass Fire in St. Helena, California, in Napa County on September 27, 2020. (JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
The latter type of plane can carry 1,200 gallons, while the former has a capacity for 4,000.
Cal Fire is also home to the Sikorsky S70i Cal Fire Hawk and Bell UH-1H Super Huey helicopters.
A Cal Fire helicopter prepares to drop water on a wildfire near a large home in the Emerald Hills near PG&E’s Edgewood Substation in Redwood City, California | Getty Images
Both can “quickly deliver a 9-person Helitack crew for ground firefighting operations and quickly transition to water/foam release missions,” according to Cal Fire.
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The Sikorsky’s fixed tank holds 1,000 gallons of water or foam. Meanwhile, the Super Huey has a capacity of 324 gallons for buckets and 360 for its fixed tank.
During the ongoing forest fires in the Los Angeles areaaircraft not owned by Cal Fire have also been seen contributing to firefighting efforts.
For example, 10 Tanker Air Carrier told X on Monday that it “has flown more than 37 hours and dropped more than 260,000 gallons of retardant to service the LA and Palisades area.” It works large McDonnell Douglas DC-10 tankers.
An airplane drops fire retardant during the Eaton fire near Altadena, California, US, on Monday, January 13, 2025. (Benjamin Fanjoy/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Canada has long provided a pair of Canadair CL-415 Super Scooper planes through a lease, and according to a press release Friday, two more will be headed to Los Angeles to help.
On Thursday, January 9, 2025, a super scooper water drop firefighting aircraft flies to get water from the Pacific Ocean at Will Rogers State Beach in Los Angeles, California, USA. | Getty Images
Those planes “retrieve water from oceans, lakes and reservoirs that can be dropped as plain water or mixed with a foam retardant,” according to Cal Fire.
The Air National Guard has flown C-130 Hercules aircraft “equipped with modular aerial firefighting systems” in the Los Angeles area, where they are operating missions.
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three of forest fires currently active in the Los Angeles area began on January 7, including the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst Fires.
The Palisades fire, the largest, has burned more than 23,700 acres since then and was 17 percent contained as of late Friday afternoon. The Eaton and Hurst fires are 35% and 97% contained, respectively.
Plumes of smoke are seen as a brush fire burns in Pacific Palisades, California on January 7, 2025. (DAVID SWANSON/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Two others, the Auto Fire in Ventura County and the Scout Fire in Riverside County, broke out this week, affecting nearly 60 acres combined.
Thousands of buildings have been damaged or destroyed by wildfires. At least 24 people have lost their lives.
