Water district installs helicopter hydrants to assist firefighters, protect infrastructure

Wildfire-plagued Yorba Linda, Calif., has a simple but effective tool to protect its community from fast-moving fires: heli-hydrants managed by the city’s water district. 

These tanks, 12-feet in diameter and three-feet deep, are connected to underground water reservoirs. Once they’re filled, firefighting helicopters hover above them with a giant hose, sucking up 2,000 gallons of water in less than a minute. (Pictured right, firefighting helicopter pulls water from a Yorba Linda Water District heli-hydrant.)

Then the tank refills, much like the back of a toilet, ready for the next chopper in 30 seconds.   

“Fire season is getting longer and longer,” said Alison Martin, public affairs manager for the Yorba Linda Water District. “It has been common to use temporary inflatable heli-hydrants, but now we’re seeing that fire season doesn’t really end. We needed a permanent solution.” 

Yorba Linda put its first permanent tank into service in 2019 and added a second soon after. Earlier this year, the district received $500,000 in federal funding to build its third and final tank, which will be built and ready to fight fires later this year. All three tanks are located in the district’s wildland interface zone close to areas with property most at risk from wildfire damage.

Without these tanks, helicopters would have to fly miles away to area reservoirs, wasting time and fuel. And sometimes fish and debris inadvertently get sucked up from open bodies of water, causing damage when the water is dropped.

“This is applicable to any state with wildfire problems,” Martin said. “The technology is relatively simple. A metal tank connects to a reservoir, and it has a float system like the back of a toilet. It’s a great idea to invest in these to be ready for emergencies.”

Water utility operators or firefighters can fill the tanks remotely when a fire has started or when the area is under high fire danger. When the tanks are not in use, they remain empty. Since Yorba Linda Water built its first tank, firefighters have used it once, during the 2020 Blue Ridge Fire.

But officials are always anticipating another big wildfire. In 2008, the Freeway Complex Fire destroyed more than 200 homes. Yorba Linda Water sustained more than $200 million in infrastructure damage, causing properties at higher locations to temporarily lose water service. 

Since then, the utility has developed a fire-hardening plan that includes installing natural gas generators at key infrastructure points, reducing vegetation around buildings, and investing in permanent heli-hydrants. Having three heli-hydrants provides redundancy, giving firefighters access to one when another is inaccessible because of smoke, wind and other visibility issues. 

Yorba Linda was the first utility in California to install permanent heli-hydrants, but now water districts from other parts of the state are following suit, wanting to improve their resiliency and preparedness in the face of an uncertain, fire-prone future, Martin said.

“We know heli-hydrants work well, and it gives the community a sense of peace,” she said. “Residents here are happy to have them because, unfortunately, they’ve been through wildfires, and they know what it’s like. This is an additional tool to protect our community.”