(The Center Square) – Gov. Gavin Newsom stood Thursday afternoon in front of California’s two newest Firehawks as officials announced the completion of the state’s purchase of 16 firefighting helicopters that fly faster and farther and dump a lot more water than the old “Hueys.”
Joe Tyler, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, told reporters that helicopter No. 616, directly behind him, marked the “finality of the contract” as the addition of two Sikorsky S-70i Firehawks were announced at Cal Fire’s Sacramento headquarters. He noted Newsom and the Legislature approved the purchase of the final four helicopters.
Tyler noted on X that California has the world’s largest Firehawk fleet.
The helicopters are a big step up from old technology, Tyler stressed.
Hueys, a 1950s helicopter known for its use during the Vietnam War, have a single engine and can carry 325 gallons of water, he said.
By contrast, a Firehawk has two engines and can carry a thousand gallons of water, Tyler said. The helicopters also have night vision capabilities.
He said the fleet of helicopters, which move farther and faster than the Hueys, will be based in many counties, including two where there were wildfires this year: San Bernardino and Riverside.
The Firehawks were instrumental during January’s wildfires in Los Angeles County, Tyler said. He described the sight of eight of the helicopters extinguishing a Malibu Canyon spot fire during the middle of the night as a “proud Dad moment of mine.”
Newsom concurred, noting the Palisades and Eaton fires would have been “significantly worse” if not for the Firehawks.
“At the peak, there were eight of these Hawks doing rings and circles to suppress the impact of those spot fires,” the governor said.
The Hueys, meanwhile, aren’t entirely going away. Newsom said Cal Fire is keeping eight of the iconic helicopters for use in prescribed burns.
The governor also noted the term “fire season” is no longer apt for California, where wildfires now rage throughout the year, but said the state is about the enter the peak of its wildfire season.
“In the last 24 hours, we’ve had 3,600 lightning strikes, initiating about 30 larger fires, 25 of which interestingly were on federal land, which represents, unsurprisingly, 57% of all our forested land,” Newsom said. The state owns 3% of forested land.
“Twenty-five of the 30 fires were initiated because of lightning strikes,” he said. “Tens of thousands of lightning strikes over the course of the last many weeks have occurred in Northern California.
“This is the time we are particularly focused and energized,” Newsom said. “We are now committed to pre-positioning [resources], protecting and continuing to prevent, to the extent possible, the impact of Mother Nature.”
Newsom used Thursday’s news conference to again criticize the Trump administration for approximately $450 million in cuts to the U.S. Forest Service, as seen in the One Big Beautiful Act. The U.S. Forest Service lost 10% of all positions and 25% of positions outside of direct wildlife response, which the Governor’s Office has said will likely impact wildlife response.