The business aviation ecosystem played a critical role in helping mitigate the wildfires that raged through the Los Angeles area from January 7, even as local staffers faced their own concerns. Almost fully extinguished by the end of January, the blazes killed nearly 30 people, destroyed more than 12,000 buildings, and scorched close to 80 square miles.

A day after the fires began to spread across Los Angeles County, then-President Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom held a press conference at beleaguered Santa Monica Airport (KSMO), which is facing closure later in the decade. KSMO is now supporting operations in the Palisades fire zone as a staging area for erosion control materials as the area faces its next crisis in the form of mudslides, exacerbated by the destruction of vegetation on the charred hillsides.

On January 9, during the course of a mission, one of the Canadair CL-415 “Super Scooper” water bombers—sent from Canada to assist in fighting the fires—struck a privately owned drone operating illegally in the skies over the conflagration, punching a six-inch hole in its wing leading edge. The twin-engine aircraft was able to return to Van Nuys Airport (KVNY), where it was grounded.

At the time, just two Super Scoopers were deployed as primary weapons in the battle to contain the conflagration (Canada later dispatched another pair to Los Angeles), and the sidelining of one was a major blow to the firefighting effort.

News of the accident spread quickly throughout the KVNY community until it reached the ears of Juan Vega, aerostructures team leader at the StandardAero repair facility there. He and a colleague immediately jumped in a golf cart and headed over to assess the situation.

“We noticed that there was a hole in the leading edge, which is mainly structure, and that’s our expertise,” he told AIN. “Just by looking at it, without knowing what internal damage there was, we knew that we could fix it.” He introduced himself to the idled crew and offered his company’s services and contact information.

They returned to the StandardAero facility, and within two hours, Vega received a phone call from the Canadian government inquiring about the scope of the repair and the company’s capabilities. “We gave them two options,” said Vega. “The first option was for us to do a temporary repair, which is pretty much a scab patch over it with pop rivets, and the second would be a permanent repair.” In the end, the Canadian engineers opted for the permanent repair, and the aircraft taxied over to the StandardAero hangar on Friday morning.

While some technicians immediately began working on the custom-formed replacement skin section, Vega and his team opened up the wing and found extensive interior damage with three shattered stringers and one broken rib. Vega noted that his company could have fabricated replacements, but as time was of the essence, the replacement parts and fittings were dispatched overnight from the Canadian maintenance base in Quebec.

For the remainder of the weekend, the crew of nine worked in shifts around the clock to return the Super Scooper to its vital duty as soon as possible.

“We finished about two in the morning,” said Vega, adding that the vendor who operates the location’s paint department wanted to make sure the aircraft was perfect upon return. “He came in at 3:30 in the morning and helped us paint, and by 8 a.m., this aircraft was pushed out.” On a normal schedule, Vega estimates that the repair would have taken more than a week.

He and the staff initially volunteered to do the work in their own free time while juggling the facility’s packed schedule of aircraft jobs, but his company insisted on providing complete support to the team.

When they notified the Canadian government that the work was free, the Canadians demurred, and StandardAero eventually accepted half of the overall cost of the repair, explained Katherine Higgins, the facility manager.

“It was a pretty incredible experience,” said Vega—“not the fact that we did it in three days, but the fact that we contributed to what’s going on here and helped our community.”

Also at KVNY—one of the busiest general aviation airfields in the country—Signature Aviation fueled the quartet of Super Scoopers, which have proven crucial in the effort to quench the flames. The company noted that it also assisted with the arrival of additional firefighting reserves at its Los Angeles International Airport (KLAX) location. According to a Signature spokesperson, it is supporting local firefighters and community members through donations to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation and the California Community Foundation.

Atlantic Aviation reported that its locations at KLAX, KSMO, and Burbank Airport (KBUR) provided fuel discounts to Cal Fire and any other firefighting agency needing aviation-related fuel or support, and its facility at Long Beach Airport (KLGB) hosted a donations collection site for fire victims in need of supplies. Jet Aviation, another FBO at KVNY, noted that its global network is supporting the Los Angeles region through the local chapter of the American Red Cross.

Meanwhile, the general aviation facility Camarillo Airport (KCMA) in nearby Ventura County hosted a pop-up 24-hour air traffic control facility that was established to coordinate the orchestra of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters that were on the front lines, according to Cal Fire.

Cal Fire alone may have had 19 aircraft cycling through at a given time with the Grumman S-2T and Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules airtankers dropping broad swaths of fire retardant and Bell UH-1H Super Huey and Sikorsky S-70i Firehawks supporting with more specific location drops.  This was carefully coordinated with air tactical and helitack group supervisors flying above each group. Aircraft were also used to spot heat sources and warn of potential outbreaks.

The ATC facility at Camarillo managed this activity from the ground. A Cal Fire spokeswoman noted that this marked the first time that a pop-up ATC facility—which really was an equipped trailer—was staffed around the clock in that capacity. KCMA was among the many airports around the region hosting the orchestra of aircraft combatting the various fires. Another significant staging site was Oxnard Airport (KOXR), which is also in Ventura County.

Cal Fire, coordinating with Los Angeles County, was among numerous agencies and contractors that joined in the herculean effort to fight to combat the numerous fires, including the Palisades, Eaton, and later Hughes outbreaks that spanned more than three weeks in January.

The firefighting effort involved a unified command between Angeles National Forest officials, Los Angeles County Fire, Los Angeles County Sheriffs, Cal Fire, and the Bureau of Land Management, among others.

In just the Hughes fire, which spanned nearly 10,500 acres burned from January 22 to 30, flames reached heights up to 200 feet and were spread by winds of up to 50 mph. More than 250,000 gallons of retardant and nearly 910,000 gallons of water were dropped there, thanks to 24 airtankers that were supported by a handful of lead planes and two dozen helicopters flying various missions.

Many of those involved viewed the missions as simply their jobs, noted the Cal Fire spokeswoman.  Some faced their own personal concerns about safety and devastation, even through past fires that occurred throughout California.

“When you see it from the air, you do have that sense of loss. It’s hard to step back to say, ‘We did things right,’” she said.

In early February, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass held a press conference to discuss the recovery effort going forward. But she opened with a nod to all those participating in the firefighting efforts, saying: “It has been 31 days since unprecedented fires engulfed our city. It's been 31 days since the Palisades was destroyed and lives were changed forever. It's been 31 days since our whole nation was inspired by the bravery of firefighters, police officers, and countless first responders who fought for days on end without rest to protect Los Angeles. So, I want to thank our first responders. You are our heroes.”

With industry members among those displaced by the disaster, Universal Weather and Aviation was inspired to partner with the Southern California Business Aviation Association to launch a GoFundMe to provide immediate relief to those affected, with the trip support provider kicking in an initial $20,000.