On Tuesday, January 7, 2025, the azure sky and gleaming sun that are hallmarks of Los Angeles, California, were rapidly replaced by thick grey smoke swelling upwards from fast-moving fire within Pacific Palisades. Hours later, another blaze, called the Eaton Fire, began to consume huge swaths of Pasadena and Altadena.
Since then, the skies of Southern California have been crisscrossed by a dizzying number of firefighting aircraft: helicopters, propeller-driven water bombers, and even massive tanker jets. You may have seen and on social media, dropping orange slurry near homes or spraying buckets of ocean water on rising flames.
Aerial firefighters鈥攖he pilots, flight coordinators, and crew鈥攈ave played a vital role in the battle against the worst fire season in Southern California history. As of publishing, 鈥攚ith a handful of smaller fires, like the Kenneth Fire and Hurst Fire breaking out as well. In total, these blazes have consumed 40,000 acres of land and 12,300 structures. The death toll of the fires, overall, has risen to 24.
国产吃瓜黑料 spoke to aerial firefighters to understand how they have contributed to the lifesaving efforts across Southern California, and to understand why the blazes present such a challenge for crews both on the ground and in the skies.
“The Palisades and Eaton fires are in the top three worst fires I鈥檝e worked in my 30-year career,鈥 says fire captain and helicopter coordinator John Williamson with Cal Fire, the fire department of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The Importance of Aerial Firefighters
Aerial firefighters have the same job as ground-based firefighters, but aerial firefighters corral the flames from the sky. They work in tandem with ground crews to support their efforts by dropping thousands of gallons of fire retardant and water to critical fire areas with each fly by.
鈥淭here is no longer a fire season. It is now a fire year.鈥
It’s a dangerous job. , there have been 14 fatal aerial firefighting aircraft crashes resulting in the deaths of 25 aerial firefighting crew members in the U.S. In contrast, not a single U.S. commercial passenger airline pilot has been killed in a flight crash since 2020.

There are more than 50 aerial firefighting aircraft assigned to the Los Angeles fires that come from several agencies. Some aircraft are from , the largest civil aerial firefighting fleet in the world with 60 rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. Others are from private companies like Montana-based . And others still have flown in from other fire departments across North America, including a crew from聽Quebec, Canada.
Aerial firefighting fleets vary in size. Cal Fire retains the likes of multiple 1,200-gallon-capable , 4,000-gallon-capable , , , and . Neptune Aviation owns nine , each of which can hold 3,000 gallons of fire retardant and four of which are currently assisting with the Los Angeles fires.

No matter the aircraft, Williamson, who’s currently in Los Angeles working the Palisades and Eaton fires, notes that aerial firefighters鈥 jobs are entirely to support the first responders on the ground.
In previous years, wintertime has been a quiet season for aerial firefighters, with most on vacation and many of the fleets put away for maintenance. But this is changing, due in part to a shift in climate and drier conditions yearround. Now, agencies like Cal Fire must be ready to battle wildfire at any moment.
鈥淭here is no longer a 鈥榝ire season,鈥欌 says a spokesperson from Cal Fire. 鈥淚t is now a 鈥榝ire year.鈥欌
The Santa Ana Winds
The nearly 100-mile-per-hour winds made the first evening of firefighting a biblical 鈥渕an vs. wild鈥 battle. The fires initially had to be fought almost entirely by groundcrews as the hurricane-force gusts made aerial firefighting unsafe and ineffective. These winds, known as the , are seasonal, strong winds that blow south into the Los Angeles area from the Mojave Desert. The Santa Ana Winds are known for fanning wildfire flames and causing a , which can make flying dangerous or impossible.
鈥淭hese fires are significant because of the wind event that preceded them,” says Williamson. “The high winds spread the fires quickly and made it difficult for any aerial firefighting to occur in the initial hours鈥 hate to describe it this way, but everything leading up to these fires created the perfect storm.鈥
鈥淲e see the devastation from a different perspective.鈥
As the wind speeds decreased slightly on January 8, aerial firefighters took to the sky and began dropping thousands of gallons of fire retardant and water across the Palisades and Eaton fires.
But the wind has continued to create headaches. Williamson says that crews must assess wind gusts each day to make sure that it’s safe to fly鈥攁nd to ensure that their drops of slurry or water are accurate.
鈥淎dditionally, the infrastructure here in Los Angeles presents a challenge with so many above-ground electrical wires and tall structures,” Williamson says. “Not every aerial firefighter assigned to these fires is from Los Angeles, so some are learning the terrain as they go.鈥
Aerial Firefighting Logistics
At the beginning of each day, aerial firefighters receive a morning briefing at their assigned air base before linking up with officials who coordinate helicopter flights or air attack routes. These specialists are like aerial firefighting air traffic control: they tell aerial firefighters where to fly and at what elevation in the firefighting airspace to best support ground crews.
The size and intensity of the Los Angeles fires means that the 鈥渟tack,鈥 or elevation layers of an airspace, in which the aerial firefighters fly is crowded and limited.
鈥淭he wind and the amount of aerial firefighters we have working on these fires has made the stacks complicated,鈥 Williamson says. 鈥淲e currently have a thousand feet聽of elevation between each aircraft in a stack to give our crews some buffer, and we鈥檝e been having to closely monitor where and how each aircraft in a stack goes about their jobs due to the high winds and terrain of these fires.鈥
For reference, are allowed to have 1,000 feet of stack between them when flying below 29,000 feet, and must have 2,000 feet of stack between them when above 29,000 feet.
Neptune Aviation鈥檚 Chief Pilot Eric Komberec says the Palisades and Eaton fires have been some of the most challenging to fight from the air.
鈥淭he urban interface and airspace concerns with so many other commercial airports in the [Los Angeles] area combined with the low moisture index and intense winds has made this a complicated fire for our aerial firefighters to tackle,鈥 Komberec says. 鈥淭here also aren鈥檛 any firebreaks due to the urban environment, so we have few ways to corral these fires. We have to attack them totally differently than we would a true wildland fire.鈥
Komberec notes that crews are accountable for their drops of fire retardant鈥攚hich are determined by the pilot only through mental math and 鈥渆yeballing it.鈥
The crosswinds, he says, have made it difficult to maneuver planes and ensure an accurate drop of retardant. 鈥淲e are held accountable for every drop of retardant we make,” Komberec says. “It鈥檚 not only extremely expensive, but can be dangerous when dropped on or near congested areas. Given the urban interface of this fire, we have to be extremely concerned with making sure we鈥檙e at the appropriate height and angle for a drop.鈥
The Mental Toll
A week of round-the-clock work has taken its toll on the aerial firefighting crews in Los Angeles.
Williamson says pilots have very little downtime聽in between shifts, with almost every waking moment devoted to gearing up for the next one. 鈥淎fter a shift you鈥檒l eat and rest and let your mind unravel a bit from what you just went through,鈥 he says. 鈥淏ut even when you鈥檙e not on a shift, you鈥檙e strategizing with other crew members, trying to make your plan for the next shift to hopefully be even more effective than during the last one.鈥
Crews must also manage the psychological impact of viewing the destroyed neighborhoods and city centers from the air.
鈥淲e see the devastation from a different perspective,鈥 Williamson says. 鈥淭he images of destruction are seared into your brain. It鈥檚 hard to see how far the burn scar extends knowing the loss of property and life that came with it. You can鈥檛 dwell on these things while working, though. You have to keep grinding until the job is done.鈥