The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District is rolling out a new firefighting tool that firefighters believe will prove to be invaluable.
The county has purchased six large Helopods – containers that hold more than 3,700 gallons of water, making for quick and easy dip sites for firefighting helicopters.
“This gives us the opportunity to get our aircraft to a water source and to the fire quickly, which then will reduce the size of fires,” Battalion Chief Tom Zurflueh said. “It’s going to save homes all summer long.”
Captain Matt Depolo, head of the fire district’s helicopter program, said the county’s topography can make it tough for choppers to get to a pond or lake quickly.
“There are a lot of areas in our department where a 10- or 15-minute flight time from the fire to the water means a 20-minute turnaround in between drops of water,” he said. “The fire grows tremendously in between drops.”
But now the fire district is strategically placing the six Helopods across the county in places like Clayton, Moraga and San Ramon. Three Helopods are already in place. The rest should be set up in another week.
“We can position these a little bit closer to areas where there aren’t ponds, there aren’t lakes, there aren’t reservoirs, there’s not the Delta,” Zurflueh said.
The Helopods are constantly being replenished with water. They’re hooked up to hoses connected to fire hydrants so they will never dry up.
“Once it’s done and off the ground, it’s going to fill up within a minute and be ready for the next helicopter,” Zurflueh said.
The Byron Helopod was successfully used on Sunday. It helped fire crews quickly put out a small grass fire on Vasco Road.
“I see these greatly increasing the ability of us and Cal Fire to put out fires and protect life, property, and environment of the citizens of Contra Costa County,” Depolo said.
via. By Jodi Hernandez • NBC Bay Area