The helicopter is equipped with a 1,000-gallon water tank and has capabilities similar to CAL FIRE aircraft. Photo courtesy of PG&E

OROVILLE, CA (MPG) - Butte County will again have a privately contracted firefighting helicopter stationed at Chico Airport this summer under agreements approved May 26 by the Butte County Board of Supervisors.

The agreements between Butte County Fire, Pacific Gas & Electric and CAL FIRE provide a Sikorsky UH-60 Type 1 helicopter for wildfire suppression from June 15 through Nov. 15. The aircraft will operate during daylight hours and remain under the operational control of the Butte County Fire Department.

Fire Chief Garrett Sjolund told supervisors the helicopter program has already proven valuable during the past two fire seasons.

“In 2024 and 25 the board both approved an agreement with PGE to provide at no cost to the county a helicopter as pilots and its mechanical support,” Sjolund said.

Sjolund said the helicopter logged 84 total flight hours over the last two years, including responses to the Thompson, Park and Granite fires. Crews delivered nearly 440,000 gallons of water during firefighting operations.

The helicopter is equipped with a 1,000-gallon water tank and has capabilities similar to CAL FIRE aircraft, according to Sjolund. The aircraft will be dispatched through the county command center and can respond throughout Butte County’s local and state responsibility areas.

The agreements also allow the helicopter to assist neighboring jurisdictions through the state mutual aid system at no cost to the county. CAL FIRE may request the aircraft for state responsibility area fires and reimburse Butte County for flight hours used on those incidents.

PG&E will cover the first two hours of flight time for incidents within Butte County. Additional flight hours will cost $10,500 per hour, according to Sjolund.

Sjolund said the locally based helicopter provides an important backup resource when state firefighting aircraft are committed elsewhere during major wildfire activity.

“It provides a local capability when state resources are pulled out of the county for other fires,” Sjolund said. “That helicopter is here to be able to maintain initial attack response.”

Board Chair Bill Connelly noted the helicopter responded to both the Thompson and Park fires while other large fires were burning across California.