Saturday marks five years since the Tubbs Fire swept through Sonoma and Napa Counties, destroying over 6,000 homes and killing 22 people, mostly in Santa Rosa. At the time, it was the most destructive fire in California history.
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This week KCBS Radio examines what changes have been made to better prepare the region for wildfire. In the first in a series of special reports, KCBS Radio took a flight aboard the Sonoma County Fire District's first ever rescue and firefighting helicopter.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KCBS RADIO) – The chopper is called "Sonoma 1" and KCBS Radio was given an exclusive chance to fly in the sleek European twin engine helicopter, weeks before it officially begins its mission.
"(The helicopter) gives our incident commanders on the ground, who are trying to manage all our ground fire fighting resources on that incident, that set of eyes in the sky at night time that they’re normally absent." Sonoma County Fire District Chief Mark Heine told KCBS Radio. "So it gives them a visual perspective of where the fire is, where the fire is going."
Sonoma 1 is a unique collaboration between the district and REACH, Sonoma County's air medical transport service, whose highly skilled staff will conduct critical rescue and life saving work. In addition, the unit will be staffed by firefighters who previously spent a year going through intense training to learn how to safely work in the aircraft.
"They'll be able to drop 180 gallons of water from a bucket at the bottom of the helicopter," Heine said. "They’ll be able to get to the scene of a wildfire in Sonoma County in just a matter of minutes from here."
From the air, you can still see the remaining scars caused by the Tubbs Fire, including miles and miles of blackened trees.
Most homes at areas such as Coffeey Park and other parts of the fire ravaged county have been replaced, but not all. Heine said a lot of lessons have been learned since the Tubbs, Nuns, Kincade and other wildfires in the region.
He added there's "no doubt" the helicopter would have helped the district’s effort fighting the Tubbs Fire five years ago.
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