Sacramento Metro Fire Department Gets New Helicopter as Fire Season Intensifies

SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District has a new firefighting tool. It's the Metro Copter 3, which can drop 3,500 gallons of water on wildfires.

Its winch can also be used during search and rescue missions.

“We’ve used this hoist several times in Sacramento County when people were stuck in precarious locations,” said Metro Fire pilot Bryce Mitchell.

Metro Fire is the only fire department in Northern California to have its own water-dropping helicopters. Two Hueys have been in service for several years.

“We’re already in a very busy start to the fire season,” Mitchell said.

They were also used extensively during the 2022 floods.

Helicopter 3 now allows the department to carry out two simultaneous missions while another helicopter is undergoing maintenance.

“This third aircraft really brings us consistency and reliability in this mission,” Mitchell said.

This week they are receiving additional funding from the state to have two helicopters ready to fly.

“Due to the extreme heat wave, they were able to activate a [Office of Emergency Services] response and helped fund the purchase of additional equipment,” Mitchell said.

Each helicopter costs about $3 million, but Metro Fire got them for free as federal government surplus.

The new helicopter has a somewhat clandestine history. It was previously used by the CIA in the Middle East.

“They used it and operated it for many years before we got it,” Mitchell said.

This is now the latest edition of Metro Fire's flying fleet.

“On a personal level, being able to save homes, property or livestock, it means a lot to us and we take great pride in providing the service that we can,” Mitchell said.

The department's first two helicopters were grounded for several months last year after Mid-flight malfunction caused loading door to fall and hit house.

These planes have now been updated to prevent this from happening again.