California Guard on Stand-By to Fight Wildfires

The UH-60 Blackhawk and the Firehawk are capable of fire suppression missions as well as personnel transport in and out of dangerous and hard to reach locations.

Blackhawk helicopters in flight Courtesy: DoD

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) - Five California National Guard helicopters have been requested by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Office of Emergency Services Sunday to support numerous Southern California wildfires that have already forced approximately 150,000 Californians to evacuate their homes.

Four of the five aircraft are currently on stand-by at Mather Air Field. They include one UH-60 Blackhawk and Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base has two UH-60 Blackhawks and 1 Firehawk available.

"All three aircraft are ready to depart Los Alamitos pending the arrival of California Department of Forestry helicopter managers and initial assignment," the California Guard's Lt. Col. Laura Yeager said today.

"The UH-60 at Mather Air Field is scheduled to depart at 1"00 PM today. The CNG is currently determining where the fifth aircraft will be deployed from."

The UH-60 Blackhawk and the Firehawk are capable of fire suppression missions as well as personnel transport in and out of dangerous and hard to reach locations.

The California National Guard maintains its own operations center staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to ensure constant awareness of potential emergencies and provide rapid response if our assistance is needed.

The California National Guard is experienced in executing firefighting response missions, and recently conducted our annual 3-day large-scale interagency wildfire training exercise near Fresno in May with the California Department of Forestry and the USDA Forest Service.
Source: California National Guard