COBB, Calif. — The Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Boggs Mountain Helitack flight crew will be conducting a night flying training mission beginning on the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 6, at 8 p.m. and concluding around 2 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 7.

Crews want residents in the Lake County communities surrounding Cobb to be informed of this important training and brief disruption it may cause.

Cal Fire indicated the training was set to continue, despite the work that had been going on since mid-afternoon on the Creek fire near Lower Lake.

At least three take-off and landings are planned to occur in this operational period with the trips being made over to Lake Sonoma for water tank filling and dropping evolutions.

The training is done for fire captains and pilots to maintain their night vision goggle and night flying proficiency.

Cal Fire said the new generation of S70i CAL FIRE Hawk helicopters have brought a myriad of improvements to firefighting operations.

With improved flight safety features, higher payload capacity, increased power margins and the ability to operate at night, Cal Fire said it can now tackle emergency situations more
efficiently and effectively.

The Cal Fire Hawk’s primary mission is responding to initial attack wildfires and rescue missions.

When responding to wildfires, the helicopter can deliver up to a nine-person helitack crew for ground firefighting operations and quickly transition into water dropping missions.

The fixed tank on the Cal Fire Hawk can carry a payload of up to 1,000 gallons of water with pilot-controlled drop volumes.