Howard Forest Station - Helitack Base

Helitack Base

The Howard Forest Helitack Base crew includes two pilots, four fire captains, two Fire Apparatus Engineers and twelve seasonal firefighters. This crew staffs a UH-1 H helicopter with call sign Copter 101. The helitack crew logs an average of 412 flight hours per year and responds to both fires and medical emergencies.

When CAL Fire began to develop a helitack program in 1970, it was decided that helitack bases would be established in areas where they could most easily protect high-value timberlands and critical watershed areas in northern and central California. Subsequently two bases were created for Mendocino County and the surrounding area to protect the high-value timber industry in this region. Starting in 1972, the first was located at Howard Forest, with call sign Copter 100, while the second was at CDF's Laytonville Forest Fire Station near the town of Laytonville with call sign 101. In 1981, Laytonville helitack and Copter 101 was moved to its current location at Howard Forest; Copter 100 and its helitack crew was disbanded. Laytonville's helipad and fueling facilities are still maintained as a secondary base and mid-mission refueling location.