Utah National Guard Sending 2 Helicopters To California For Firefight
Sep 10, 2020, 4:18 PM | Updated: 7:16 pm
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - SEPTEMBER 09: Amy Scott of San Francisco takes in the view from the Embarcadero as smoke from various wildfires burning across Northern California mixes with the marine layer, blanketing San Francisco in darkness and an orange glow on September 9, 2020 in San Francisco, California. Over 2 million acres have burned this year as wildfires continue to burn across the state. (Photo by Philip Pacheco/Getty Images)
(Photo by Philip Pacheco/Getty Images)
WEST JORDAN, Utah – Two UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters and 10 soldiers from the Utah 97th Aviation Troop Command will depart for California Friday morning, where deadly wildfires have burned millions of acres.
They will go specifically to Mather, California, where they will go through two days of training and then sent out to the firefight.
“Currently, it is anticipated they will support operations for approximately 14 days, making repeated trips to nearby water sources to dip their 600-gallon buckets, and from the air, drop water on the flames,” officials said.
“We are grateful to be able to help out the citizens of California,” said Chief Warrant Officer and instructor pilot Brian Johnson. “We train extensively to be prepared for situations just like this and hope that we can make an impact of the wildland firefighting efforts.”
We welcomed our #CALFIRE support crews from 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 211th Aviation Regiment home last night! We are proud of their efforts to support our partners to battle the wildfires in California! #AlwaysThere #InThisTogether pic.twitter.com/8QKWzF0VcL
— Utah National Guard (@UTNationalGuard) September 5, 2020
It’s the second time this summer that the Utah National Guard has supported fire operations in California. Another two helicopter crew was in California from August 30 through September 2.
