“I got into flying because it’s bad***,” Sikorsky S-76 helicopter captain Venida Hayes sheepishly admitted. “I wish I had a better answer for you but it’s the truth.”

Hayes has 15 years of piloting experience but just one year as a captain with the wildfire-fighting Quick Reaction Force. It didn’t take long for her to experience first-hand how rapidly a fire can burn through dry vegetation. Last year, she helped fight the Route Fire, which ignited off Interstate 5 near Castaic Lake.

“After all the training and groundwork I was in awe of how it all came together in the air,” said Hayes.

Thanks in part to the Quick Reaction Force, a partnership between three Southern California fire departments with funding by Southern California Edison, the Route Fire was stopped at 5,000 acres. Twenty-six years earlier in the same area, the Marple Fire incinerated 20,000 acres.

Orange County Fire Chief Brian Fennessy says it’s those accomplishments that prove the value of the Quick Reaction Force. SCE has increased its funding for the program to $35 million this year.

“We’ve had a partnership with SCE for five years now where we’ve had some pretty large fires in Orange County and there’s no doubt in my mind that if we didn’t have these large aircraft, we would have lost a lot of properties,” Fennessy said.

“SCE is proud to partner with local fire agencies in support of the Quick Reaction Force, as a critical component of our overall Wildfire Mitigation Plan,” said Steve Powell, SCE president and CEO. “About one quarter of SCE’s service area is in high fire risk areas. That’s why we continue hardening our grid and are using artificial intelligence and other technologies to help prevent wildfires and act quickly when they do occur.”

The firefighting helitankers can take on 3,000 gallons of water or retardant in just 90 seconds without needing to land. The smaller S-76 helicopters use night vision to act as the helitanker’s eyes in the sky, coordinating when and where to make a drop. They fly in tandem working together around the clock to identify hotspots and extinguish them before they expand, sometimes working so seamlessly that entire neighborhoods are never privy to the approaching danger.

“There was a Santa Ana wind event in Orange County when a fire broke out. We used wildfire spread modeling that demonstrated if that fire had escaped, there were thousands of homes in the path that would have gone up and we’re talking in 25 minutes — not hours, minutes,” Fennessy said.

“If you can imagine in this situation, it’s 3 a.m. We’ve got people asleep in their homes, with no idea the fire is right on the other side of the freeway from them,” said Fennessy. “To come in and stop a fire before anyone even knew about it, that had the potential of destroying multiple homes and endangering lives, was a pretty significant impact.”

Years later, some residents are still unaware of how close to catastrophe they really were.

“Nothing is more important than keeping our customers, communities and team members safe,” Powell said. “Expanding our partnerships and funding with local fire agencies helps us ensure there are dedicated resources available to fight fires year-round, which protects our communities and electrical equipment so power remains flowing, especially during potential emergency situations.”

Learn more at edison.com/wildfiresafety.