The first time that Ventura County Copter 2 was used on a wildfire, June 10, 2020. Photo by John Carman.
Ventura County, between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, has an air unit which is a cooperative enterprise of the Fire District and the Sheriff’s Office. The unit has four Bell UH-1 helicopters and one Bell Long Ranger. In addition, they purchased three military HH-60L Blackhawk helicopters in order to convert them into FIREHAWKS to be used for fighting wildland fires, personnel transport, search and rescue, law enforcement, and medical evacuation.
Ventura County Copter 5. Ventura County is converting military HH-60L Blackhawks into FIREHAWKS. VCSO photo, Capt. Romano Bassi January, 2019Ventura County Copter 8. Photo by Ventura County Air UnitVentura County Copter 8. Photo by Ventura County Air UnitVentura County Copters 6, 8, 9, and 2. Photo by Ventura County Air UnitVentura County Copter 3. Photo by Ventura County Air Unit
N80VC (still in army green) has been a regular here in VC skies for months, but we’ve been patiently waiting close to 24 months for N70VC to finally be delivered as a true Firehawk conversion. Odd that they chose to paint that one in yellow/blue before the conversion work ever got started.
Also handy for taking land (exhibit/evidence) pics in the far country outback for RMA.
N80VC (still in army green) has been a regular here in VC skies for months, but we’ve been patiently waiting close to 24 months for N70VC to finally be delivered as a true Firehawk conversion. Odd that they chose to paint that one in yellow/blue before the conversion work ever got started.