The “Tuna Fire” in Malibu California – Summer of 2021
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“A good measure of our success is when a community wakes up in the morning to open roads and no signs of catastrophic destruction – when most of the local population isn’t even aware we were fighting fires above them the night before.”
The swift action of ground and aerial firefighters working in darkness kept the so-called “Tuna Fire” relatively small, greatly reducing the potential for damage to the people, wildlife, and properties of Malibu, California.
Helitanker 55 pilot and Coulson Aviation’s Director of Flight Operations-Rotorcraft Mel Ceccanti said the brushfire ignited around 1:30 AM on July 9th, and had the potential to cause significant damage.
It was this year’s first night mission for the Coulson Aviation Chinook helitanker 55 and crew, working for Los Angeles County as part of the Quick Reaction Force’s NVG (Night Vision Goggle) program.
The team was monitoring the radio at the Van Nuys base when an LA County Fire Department (LACoFD) 412 helicopter responded, then called for an LA County Blackhawk to fight a fire located off Tuna Canyon Road (hence being coined the “Tuna Fire”) near the Pacific Coast Highway.
“On route they made a call for Helitanker 55. We were ready. When you hear on the radio that the fire is making a push you start getting ready. The team had started to build their situational awareness, build a picture of the fire, and mapped it when we were called,” Mel said.
The fact that helitanker 55 was on initial attack with the LACoFD was critical to the success of this mission.
It was a small fire. Very narrow, on extremely steep terrain, without a lot of real estate to work the big aircraft into.
The team had to be careful with their drops as the sheer force of the water could loosen large boulders and rocks at higher levels of the canyon – endangering the LA County firefighters working at the bottom.
In a two-hour period, the Coulson Chinook dropped 37,600 gallons of water in approximately 8 drops, working alongside the county aircraft. Refilling was done at nearby 69 Bravo at the top of the Topanga Canyon, where there is above-ground water tanks, lighting, and automatic refill equipment.
69 BRAVO HELITANKER REFILL BASE
Mel said the number one priority was the safety of the people and firefighters below. Rather than doing direct attack suppression, Helitanker 55 was “making it rain torrentially”, using the deluge of water to slow the fire down, but not dislodge the large boulders, rocks, and soil. They were able to use this specialized water suppression tactic due to the versatility afforded them by the Coulson Designed RADS™ system technology.
The ground and flight crews had already proved the Chinook’s ability to devastate fires during the day, but the Tuna Fire provided an opportunity to showcase Coulson’s night vision goggle technology, quick reaction force, and Sikorsky S76 intelligence gathering birddog aircraft.
“A good measure of our success is when a community wakes up in the morning to open roads and no signs of catastrophic destruction – when most of the local population isn’t even aware we fighting fires above them the night before,” he said.