Mill Valley Fire Department and Southern Marin Fire District are ramping up training with many allied agencies in advance of the pending fire season.
Today, February 21, 2022, from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm the Southern Marin Fire District, Mill Valley Fire Department, and many allied fire agencies will be training with the new Cal Fire Hawk helicopter. The training will be located at Hauke Park, just across from the Police and Fire stations on Hamilton Drive in Mill Valley.
Please do not dial 9-1-1 to inquire about today's training. This is not an emergency incident, but training drill.
ACQUIRED BY CAL FIRE
In 2018 CAL FIRE received approval from the Governor’s Office to purchase up to 12 new Sikorsky S70i firefighting helicopters from United Rotorcraft. These new generation helicopters will replace CAL FIRE’s aging fleet of
12 Super Huey Helicopters. The new generation of S70i CAL FIRE HAWK helicopters will bring enhanced capabilities including flight safety, higher payloads, increased power margins, and night flying capabilities.
MISSION
The CAL FIRE HAWK’s primary mission is responding to initial attack wildfires and rescue missions. When responding to wildfires, the helicopter can quickly deliver up to a 9-person Helitack Crew for ground firefighting operations and quickly transition into water/foam dropping missions.
The helicopters are also used for firing operations using either a Helitorch or a Chemical Ignition Device System (CIDS) on wildland fires or prescribed burns, transporting internal cargo loads, mapping, medical evacuations and numerous non-fire emergency missions.
The CAL FIRE HAWK is also equipped with an external hoist for rescue missions. This specialized rescue technique involves highly trained firefighters being lowered from a hovering helicopter to an injured or trapped person below. Once secured to a harness or stokes basket, both the victim and rescuer are then hoisted into the helicopter and flown to a landing zone.
View SIKORSKY S70i Cal Fire Hawk information (PDF)