Ridley, California (KFSN) – Action News boarded the Garnet Fire Department's helicopter Ridley Spirol on Friday.
“This plane can fly for about two hours,” Air Force Base Manager Joe Romero told us at the U.S. Forest Service.
The bell 205 we saw can hold 320 gallons of water, two crew members sit in the front and six in the rear.
“This guy is usually the crew boss and his job is to make sure the action is back here,” Romero explained in the cabin of the helicopter.
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When the manual crew was dispatched on the ground, the helicopter returned to the sky.
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“The pilot will only sail to the submersion site,” Romero said. “He will get water, he will come back and talk to someone on the ground and see where they need water.”
Then we walked off the helicopter and entered the Arbo, which is essentially a mobile control tower.
The crew there listened to six radios. They are always waiting for the phone calls from the attackers in the air to fly over the fire.
“What promotes them is our job,” Romero said. “Whether it's the plane here or another base plane, Arbo will call for ordering them and burning them.”
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While we were there, radar showed four helicopters near Balch Camp, a key area for the PG&E infrastructure.
The operator writes on the windowsill to track its helicopter…
“When it's very busy with the radio explosion, it can feel stressed,” Romero said. “It's better to have two or three people here.”
The six helicopters at the base are part of dozens of aircraft assigned to garnet.
Small airports in the area, such as Chandler and the cities of Ridley in Fresno, now play a key role as a helicopter base.
“When we launch the plane from here, it's a 10-20 minute flight, top,” Romero said. “Now, they can get there faster, turn around, come back, fuel, and go back.”
Some pilots are trained to perform water drops throughout the darkness at night.
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