SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Sheriff's Department has a fleet of seven helicopters providing patrol, search and rescue services and firefighting.
CBS 8 got a behind the scenes look in the sky during an initial attack fire mission. Take a rare look inside the cockpit of a helicopter, as crews hover over the Harbison Fire in Dehesa in East San Diego County.
"It gives you an idea what it is like approaching the fire and going over the smoke. It's a realistic look for inside the cockpit for someone that doesn’t fight fires," said Tony Webber, ASTREA Pilot Fire Rescue.
"It started from an outbuilding which was a structure fire and moved into the vegetation. Ground crews responded and noticed a need for additional aviation assets, so while dispatch correction San Diego dispatched our helicopters from the Sheriff's department," said Eric MGuire, Fire Captain, Cal Fire.
"This is a typical initial attack fire. This fire was in remote area. This fire grew to 40 acres," said Kyle Custeau, Fire Captain, Cal Fire.
This isn’t your ordinary chopper. It's equipped with a 375 gallon belly tank that can drop water. ASTREA, Aerial Support To Regional Enforcement Agencies is the aviation unit.
It’s a collaborative effort between the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and Cal Fire. A sheriff deputy flies the helicopter while a fire captain operates the radio, other equipment and drops the water.
"Two miles to the south, when we run into water source, we call it a 'dip sight,' it’s a snorkel that drops down from our water tank. We hit a pump and fill the tank up on this water source and fly back over the fire and get 50 feet over the flames or smoke and that’s when we make the water drops and that’s what you see in the video," said Webber.
Fire captains communicate with firefighters on the ground to get an accurate location.
"The helicopters are very low level, at times to 100 feet above ground level," said Webber. "Cal Fire partners everything we are doing to taking water off, everything is safety related. Our altitude and air speeds are picked out in case there is an emergency. We may make it look easy and everything is safety related. Safety comes first."
They also give off a loud siren before they make the water drop so no one below gets injured.
"It's a relationship where the Sheriff's Department pilot and Cal Fire is supplying. They sit in the front with us. They are the experts on firefighting and they talk with the guys on the ground that we transport to the fire. It works great," said Scott Bligh, Supervisor for Fire Rescue side ASTREA.
Cal Fire says all resources have left the Harbison Fire area and that is all clear. If needed in the future, Cal Fire can reach out to active military or the National Guard for support.
WATCH RELATED: Cal Fire reminds San Diegans about wildfire preparedness (July 2022)