Pacific Gas and Electric Co. announces it is partnering with local fire agencies to provide firefighting helicopters in Butte, Marin and Merced counties for the third year. This year, the program is expanding to neighboring counties, including Tehama, Plumas, Glenn, Yuba, Sutter and Colusa.
A PG&E Blackhawk helicopter equipped for water bombing is stationed at the Butte County Fire Department’s Chico Air Attack Base through Nov. 15. While based locally, the helicopters can also be deployed to support wildfire response efforts beyond their home counties to neighboring counties through California’s master mutual aid system.
The program, which launched in Marin County in 2023 and later expanded to Butte and Merced counties, helps local fire agencies respond quickly to wildfires during California’s peak fire season, said PG&E.
Since the program’s launch, PG&E-supported helicopters have:
- Logged more than 445 flight hours
- Conducted more than 2,600 water drops
- Dropped more than 2 million gallons of water
- Supported more than 60 initial attacks across participating counties
The program places four dedicated Blackhawk helicopters in Butte, Marin and Merced counties through Nov. 15. Three helicopters are assigned to the participating counties, while a fourth is available as a standby aircraft if needed. During that time, local fire agencies direct the aircraft in support of wildfire suppression operations, providing communities with dedicated aerial firefighting resources that can help strengthen initial attack and response efforts, said PG&E.
The agency says its helicopter program is one of PG&E’s many layers of protection against catastrophic wildfire. Other efforts include undergrounding, enhanced powerline safety settings, public safety power shutoffs, AI-enabled wildfire cameras and more. More information about PG&E’s wildfire safety efforts is available at pge.com/wildfiresafetyprogress.
