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In a maneuver that could become commonplace in Southern California’s brushy hillsides and thick forests, a firefighting helicopter hovers above a 1,700-gallon metal tank, lowers so its snorkel can dip in and inhale water, and then flies away and showers brown hills scorched in October by the massive Canyon 2 Fire.

Last week’s demonstration shows how the newfangled tank might drastically reduce turnaround times for water drops in remote areas while and reducing the manpower it takes to refill the firefighting copters.

The Remotely Activated Snorkel Site uses robot-controlled valves to tap into an area’s municipal water system, allowing quick access for snorkel helicopters that otherwise would have to spend valuable minutes flying to a reservoir or other water source.

There are somewhat similar tanks in use – but they require firefighters to stay on the group to activate the values – instead of just going to the front lines themselves. But Orange County, for one, doesn’t even have those tanks so helicopters must get to a body of water or be filled by via a fire engine or a portable tank that must be refilled by a support crew.

This new technology, essentially a fire hydrant for helicopters, is undergoing field tests in Anaheim Hills.

What if remote areas had these tanks sprinkled about, poised for action in case a big fire breaks out?

“This really can reduce the amount of time it takes to refill,” said Sgt. Daron Wyatt, a spokesman for Anaheim’s fire and police departments.

From such tanks to drones to mountaintop cameras, Southern California’s firefighters are testing new technologies in anticipation of trouble.

Last year was the worst on record for wildfires in California, with 35 people killed and more than 8,500 structures destroyed. And with the National Weather Service saying there were drier-than-normal conditions this past winter, the region could feel one of the driest seasons ever recorded.

Already this year, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties have endured significant wildfires – and firefighters think the worst of 2018 could still be on the way.

“We used to have fire season,” said  Battalion Chief Craig Covey of the Orange County Fire Authority. “Now, it’s basically year-round.”

Last year, for the first time, the Los Angeles Fire Department used drones, deploying them to help coordinate its battles and assess damage in the Creek Fire near Sylmar and the Skirball Fire in Bel-Air and the Sepulveda Pass.

The effort was so successful that the department made plans to add more drones to its fleet for search-and-rescues and firefighting.

“Oftentimes, (someone reports) that they see something in the water, and they are not sure if that’s a person or animal,” Battalion Chief Richard Fields said last year at a press conference. “With this technology, we can get an image and determine our rescue efforts.”

In Orange County, six new cameras were installed atop Santiago Peak last month so firefighters can quickly assess blazes and know how to respond. Four of the cameras are stationary, while two can be tilted and panned remotely. They are perched on the county’s highest point, at 5,700 feet, and can spot smoke and flames that are miles away.

Covey, who heads air operations for OCFA, said those cameras were especially helpful pinpointing hot spots during this month’s Aliso Fire, which scorched 175 acres.

As for the snorkel-friendly tank, firefighters hope it will be a game-changer in swaths where ponds, lakes and open-air reservoirs aren’t close by to provide the helicopters with water. Pilots use remote control to activate the valve to fill the water tank.

The water-dropping helicopters do not have to be specially modified at all for this technology. When not in use, the tank is empty.

“We’re not afforded the ability to have a close reservoir in many areas of the county, so this is technology that we’d be very interested in moving forward,” Covey said.

The special tank will be tested over the next year near Avenida de Santiago in Anaheim Hills, with Orange County’s park system helping out by allowing the tank to sit on park land.

Mark Whaling, a battalion chief with the Los Angeles County Fire Department and owner of Whaling Fire Line Equipment, said he got the idea for the technology while helping fight the Canyon 2 Fire.

“I thought, ‘There has to be a way we can get to the water easier and quicker,’” he said.

Whaling developed the Remotely Activated Snorkel Site through much trial and error. The system costs $30,000 to $50,000 to install, he said, about twice the cost of a basic fire hydrant.

If the trial is a success, the county could consider buying several tank systems, officials said, with the tanks placed above or below ground.

Covey said the new technology could be significant for a region ravaged by wildfires.

“It’s definitely getting worse each year,” he said. “Everything is just bone dry.”

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