(KERO) — To fight the growing threat of wildfires in California, Cal Fire is stepping up efforts to contain those fires as quickly as possible.
They're doing that with new technology and better aircrafts.
This year, Cal Fire is ramping up firefighting efforts with new aviation assets like a Cal Fire Hawk at Boggs Mountain Helitack Base.
It flies faster and drops more water allowing ground crews to get better access and make more progress on a fire.
By next year, all 10 bases in California will have a fire hawk.
Air bases are strategically placed to get an aircraft on the scene of a fire in less than 20 minutes.
The helicopter already hit two major milestones while working the Electra Fire in Amador and Calaveras counties in July.
But there’s a lot that we don’t see when it comes to newer technology: tech that tells these planes where to go giving them tactical information.
The program called tactical analyst gives personnel a real time snapshot of the Cal Fire resources available and fire activity like forward progress.
It can be used to coordinate resources on the most critical parts of the fire.
The program also allows users to upload photos giving more visuals of the fire.
It’s all part of Cal Fire’s goal, to contain fires at 10 acres or less.