Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel and Orange County Fire Authority firefighters will team up Tuesday to conduct helicopter drills in in the Santa Monica Mountains to prepare them to better confront large-scale wildfires in the region in concert.
The day drill will begin at 4 p.m. in Topanga and the evening drill scheduled in Malibu will involve the world’s largest helicopter-tanker, a Boeing CH-47 Chinook, a heavy-lift aircraft with the capacity to release 3,000 gallons of water with each drop, according to fire commanders.
The drills are part of the Expedited Resource Response Plan Pilot Program, a joint effort coordinated by L.A. County Fire Chief Daryl Osby and OCFA Chief Brian Fennessy.
“It is important and vital that we continue to partner with our peers to provide each other with critically needed air and ground resources that are essential at a moment’s notice, especially during large-scale wildfire events when lives and property are threatened,” Osby said. “We continue to learn and grow from past and present wildfire incidents, such as the Woolsey, Lake, and Bobcat fires.
“With wildfires increasing in intensity and size, we must all work together to be prepared and best strategize how to bolster our ability to protect communities when they need us the most.”