Clouds of dust swirled around the Santa Fe Dam in Irwindale as a massive helicopter hovered over a tank of wildfire retardant, dropped a long snorkel from its belly and sucked up 3,000 gallons of bright pink material in just about 90 seconds.
The chopper zipped back into the sky, where it met with two other Coulson CH-47 Chinook helitankers and got in formation. One by one, they dropped the neon retardant on the ground below — the latest demonstration of California’s war-like preparations for wildfires this year.
“As we get deeper into the fire season and this summer, we’re going to be approaching fall when the Santa Ana winds will return,” Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Anthony Marrone said. “We can expect the risk of wildfires to grow, especially given the increased vegetation and the habitat that’s grown following a wet winter and spring. This vegetation will be dried out and become explosive fuel, which will result in rapid wildfire spread.”
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