By that point, helicopter pilots had been dropping water on the flames for about nine hours ... according to the latest Cal Fire numbers. Wind speeds factor in when deciding whether to ground aircraft ...

County also looking at buying more water tenders and wants to delve into wildfire preparedness across agencies ...

Many have repeatedly dipped into Otay Lake, preparing to drop that water onto ... to work,” said Cal Fire Capt. Rob Johnson. “That's where the firefighting helicopters are a key tool in ...

The Cal Fire helicopter team had one job ... image The helicopter can then hover over the fire to drop water in a dense waterfall - more targeted and from a lower altitude than a plane could.