Los Angeles Awaits Sikorsky Firehawks

Two Sikorsky S-70A Firehawk helicopters will enter service this year to fight fires and perform emergency medical evacuations in the sprawling Los Angeles County metro area.

The aircraft are undergoing interior modifications at Air Methods in Englewood, Colorado, and then will go to Aero Union in Chico, California for water tank installation. The aircraft are expected to enter service this summer, in time for the 2001 fire season.

The county's Board of Supervisors earmarked $25 million for the acquisition, which includes two new Sikorsky S-70 helicopters, support equipment, training, emergency medical service interiors, avionics, water tanks and extended landing gear.

Sikorsky says the advantages of the Firehawk are its ability to drop fire suppressant precisely over the target area, its rapid transit to and from the water source and its flexible options for refilling the water tank. The net effect is a greater amount of gallons per hour compared to other delivery means.
The helicopter can refill its 1,000-gallon tank in two ways. It can land next to a water source while water is pumped aboard via a connector on the side of the tank, or it can hover and fill its tank in one minute by means of a pump and snorkel hose.

Sikorsky's first Firehawk, a new UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter variant, is serving the U.S. Army National Guard in Oregon. Congress has funded two more UH-60L Firehawks for Army National Guard units. Three conversion kits have also been appropriated.

During a three-month demonstration for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the Firehawk responded to a number of brushfires in LA County and one large fire at Lake Piru in neighboring Ventura County, north of Los Angeles.

At Lake Piru, the Firehawk dropped 37,300 gallons of a foam and water, and refilled the water tank with 35 snorkel operations and three ground fills during a three-hour period.