California’s 2017 wildfire season proved the most destructive on record, when nearly 9,000 wildfires burned 1.2 million acres. The LA County Fire Department fights those fires with the Sikorsky S-70 Firehawk, a variant of the UH-60 Black Hawk. The department has flown the Firehawk since the year 2000 and recently added two S-70i helicopters to its fleet of three S-70As. At the Heli-Expo show, battalion chief Pat Sprengel and senior pilot Mike Sagely explained the capabilities of this multi-role machine.

Music: There Are Many Different Kinds of Love by Chris Zabriskie