Erickson Air-Crane Helitanker “Goliath” leased by LACoFD assists on the Rodeo Fire in La Verne on July 23, 2017. Photo by @trent_s_bell.
by Jennifer Hubbard
An essential and much anticipated component of the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s (LACoFD) fire season is the annual arrival of specialty aircraft leased to support its existing apparatus arsenal. The first aircraft to arrive this season was a single Erickson Air-Crane S-64F Helitanker. One of only 20 Helitankers in the world, the aircraft is nick-named “Goliath” and began a 120-day service contract on Sunday, July 16.
With the capacity to hold up to 2,650 gallons of water, this integral addition has already assisted on two fires in the past week alone. The first was the Vista Fire in the Angeles National Forest on July 21, which burned three acres. The second and larger incident was the Rodeo Fire in La Verne on July 23, which burned a total of 50 acres. In 2016, the Helitanker was dispatched 89 times, assisted in 15 incidents and dropped a total of 100,800 gallons of water.
Housed at the Van Nuys Tanker Base, the Helitanker will be joined by two Quebec SuperScoopers by mid-August. Their arrival will mark the 24th year the SuperScoopers have been leased by the Department. Dropping 1,620 gallons of water on a single run, the SuperScoopers are vital to the Department’s ability to respond to incidents during the busy fire season.