Offering my assistance.

[C.F.D]

I have one question for you Mike:

How many Choppers does the LAPD have? What Kind?

Please include the LAFD and Medical aswell.

[MikesPhotos]

I have one question for you Mike:

How many Choppers does the LAPD have? What Kind?

Please include the LAFD and Medical aswell.

The LAPD has one of the largest law enforcement Air Forces in the United States. Current information has their fleet at 12 Aerospatiale B-2 A-STARS, 4 Bell 206 Jet Rangers, One UH1H "Huey" Helicopter, and One King Air 200 turboprop fixed wing aircraft.

The LAFD has 4 Bell 412 and one Bell 206L-3. The 412's are set up for Air Ambulance, Helitack, and Fire Surpression duties. The 206 (FIRE 6) is set up for Observation and Command and Control. They've also purchased but not taken delivery of 2 AugustaWestland AW139s.

In addition, the city of LA sometimes contracts a Sikorsky Sky Crane during Fire Season.

[C.F.D]

My God! That's one hell of a Fleet.

Do you know who's the 1st largest?

[C.F.D]

My God! That's one hell of a Fleet.

Do you know who's the 1st largest?

[MikesPhotos]

My God! That's one hell of a Fleet.

Do you know who's the 1st largest?

That I don't know. I would assume it'd be someone like the FBI or a State Agency. The California Highway Patrol has 15 fixed wing aircraft and 9 helicopters. The LACoFD has 8 or 9 Bell 412s, Firehawks, and Bell 206s as well. During Fire Season, the County contracts 2 fixed wing Canadian SuperScoopers which are based at Van Nuys airport. The California Dept of Forestry probably has the biggest air fleet in the state with 23 Tankers (S2Ts), 11 UH-1H helicopters, and 14 OV-10 Air Attack/Observation planes. They also contract with the DC-10 (Tanker 910) now too. And of course you can't forget the Federal/Forest Service assets in the area. Then you have the LA sheriffs department, and many other smaller agencies like Pasadena and Hawthorne which have helicopters.

Even with all of these resources, Air Assets can be stretched very thin with multiple fires burning at the same time, but for the most part, wildland fires end up being more of an air show then anything else until they get into the interface zone and threaten structures.

--Minor edit: Woke up and remembered the County 206 was retired not to long ago.

[C.F.D]

Fire hawks-Black hawks?

[MikesPhotos]

Fire hawks-Black hawks?

Correct. Specially modified Sikorsky UH-60 blackhawks modified for water dropping, helitack and air ambulance. You can see photos of them here.

[MikeyPI]

It is a varient of the Blackhawk Equipped to address fire related issues (though I believe during it's off season it is used for SAR and Medivac usage).. I am not sure but I believe that it is swapped over to pull other duties when it is not needed in fire suppression. The Blackhawk has many varients, some of which are just nicknames granted by their owners, the ones I am aware of and 100% certain exist from the varient list are:

Blackhawk

Pavehawk

Seahawk

Jayhawk

Firehawk (civilian varient for fire suppression/multirole)

EDIT:

Sorry MikesPhotos, I guess we posted at the same time, but we both have the same answer... I responded while you were posting apparently:(

[MikesPhotos]

It is a varient of the Blackhawk Equipped to address fire related issues (though I believe during it's off season it is used for SAR and Medivac usage).. I am not sure but I believe that it is swapped over to pull other duties when it is not needed in fire suppression.

Firehawk (civilian varient for fire suppression/multirole)

EDIT:

Sorry MikesPhotos, I guess we posted at the same time, but we both have the same answer... I responded while you were posting apparently:(

That's quite alright! Just to flesh out this answer a little bit more before I head to bed, the Los Angeles County Fire Department operates 3 Sikorsky Firehawks based off of the UH-60L/S70 platform. During the daytime, 4 helicopters (either 412s or Firehawks depending on area and maintenance schedule) are designated as Air Squads with the ability to respond to fire suppression and EMS calls. The fourth is configured just for fire suppression and fly crew transport. Usually around the first of July, a fifth helicopter, usually a Firehawk, is staffed as well with a fly crew and superintendent on board. Because of the specialized weather patterns we have here in California, our fire season is actually year round. Some of our worst winds and fires occur between Jan and March such as the Pines fires in San Diego and the Malibu fire that destroyed 10 homes last year. This is why all birds are always maintained and ready for fire suppression duties, and it's actually the EMS, SAR, and additional duties that are added/removed as needed.

One additional note is that the Firehawk is not just limited to civilian usage. The National Guard also flies firehawks in Florida, California, and I believe in Texas as well. These are very similar to the belly tank system LA County uses, and augments the National Guards CH-47 and UH-60's equipped with bambi buckets for firefighting.

Be it city or county, if you have a large fire, over the side cliff rescue, SAR mission, or air ambulance call amongst others, you can pretty much guaranty there will be either a yellow and white or red and white bird overhead. Due to the close proximity these two agencies work, there are specially crafted mutual aid agreements that allow for the best maximization of resources. Just the other day there was a bad accident involving 2 children in the San Fernando Valley. Both patients were air lifted to Childrens Hospital of LA, and County was requested to assist along with LA City Fire 4.

And just to overcomplicate things, besides these two large departments, there also exists many smaller municipal departments that work day in and day out with LA City and County.

[C.F.D]

is is why all birds are always maintained and ready for fire suppression duties

Does that mean the Choppers are already full with Water or a Chemical?

[MikesPhotos]

Does that mean the Choppers are already full with Water or a Chemical?

The short answer is no due to weight considerations. County birds will usually pick up and deliver a Fly Crew and then fill up and return to support that crew with water drops. City doesn't have a Type 1 handcrew program so when they are requested for fire suppression, they will respond directly for water dropping. Whether they fill up on scene or at Van Nuys and respond is up to the circumstances and the weather.

It takes but mere moments to refill the 412s, but because the Firehawks refill is on the opposite side and takes longer, they will usually use their snorkel at a pool/tank or pond set up for them along with other Type 1 helicopters like the Skycranes and S61s.

[C.F.D]

weight considerations.

I should of thought that...lol.

I'm curious about something: Does Los Angeles has Peace Officers? Maybe for City transit or something.

[MikesPhotos]

I should of thought that...lol.

I'm curious about something: Does Los Angeles has Peace Officers? Maybe for City transit or something.

I'm not quite sure what you mean. All Police officers in the state are either level 1 or 2 (reservist) peace officers with training standards set by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST)

As for transit duty, that is handled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's department for both city and county buses. You can read more about them here

[C.F.D]

A Peace officer (also called law enforcement officer), in North America, is any public-sector person charged with upholding the peace, mainly police officers, customs officers, correctional officers, probation officers, parole officers, and sheriffs or marshals and their deputies.

Modern legal codes use the term peace officer to include every public-sector person vested by the legislating state with law-enforcement authority—traditionally, anyone "sworn, badged, and armable" but, basically, who can arrest, or refer such arrest for a criminal prosecution. Hence, city police officers, county sheriffs' deputies, and state troopers are usually vested with the same authority within a given jurisdiction.

Jurisdictions may restrict the powers granted to those who have "peace-officer status" as opposed to "police status". For example, in New York State, all New York State Court Officers,[1] as well as Court clerks,[2] assigned to the 1st and 2nd Judicial Departments are classified as Peace Officers. However only the Uniformed Court Officers of the New York State Unified Court System may carry firearms without a pistol license.

[MikesPhotos]

A Peace officer (also called law enforcement officer), in North America, is any public-sector person charged with upholding the peace, mainly police officers, customs officers, correctional officers, probation officers, parole officers, and sheriffs or marshals and their deputies.

Modern legal codes use the term peace officer to include every public-sector person vested by the legislating state with law-enforcement authority—traditionally, anyone "sworn, badged, and armable" but, basically, who can arrest, or refer such arrest for a criminal prosecution. Hence, city police officers, county sheriffs' deputies, and state troopers are usually vested with the same authority within a given jurisdiction.

Jurisdictions may restrict the powers granted to those who have "peace-officer status" as opposed to "police status". For example, in New York State, all New York State Court Officers,[1] as well as Court clerks,[2] assigned to the 1st and 2nd Judicial Departments are classified as Peace Officers. However only the Uniformed Court Officers of the New York State Unified Court System may carry firearms without a pistol license.

As interesting as that wikipedia quote is, it sounds like it answers your own question. You asked

Does Los Angeles has Peace Officers?

The answer is simply, yes. Every police officer, county sheriff, state highway patrol, correctional officer (jails), and many many others from fire investigators to District attorneys investigators are all peace officers. Here is a list of all Law Enforcement agencies in the state of California. As you can see, it's huge and diverse.

In addition to that, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs department and probably the LA City General Services Department/Office of Public Safety have security officers who are trained to the PC832 standard which is the minimum requirement to be a peace officer. They do not patrol an area, nor are they police officers at such, but just provide security for certain buildings and areas like Community Colleges. They are also not trained to as high of a standards as a POST-II reservist, nor are they paid as well.

That's the closest I can think of that might be related to your question, but once again, everyone who is a police officer or PC832 trained secuirty officer in this state is a Peace officer.

[MikesPhotos]

To Hoppah and other modelers interested,

On CBS2 News website, they have a good aerial top view of LAPD's bomb squad command vehicle that is modeled as the LAPD SWAT command vehicle. You can see it here

[zootoo63]

hi hoppah. i downloaded la mod for emergency 4 which i got off of atari but i try to play the game and the map loads in freestyle game but i cant do anything other than sound the alarm at he f.s. i can click the trucks but i cant do anything with them!. plz help me.

thnx

Hi,

Thanks for offering your assistance. It may sound stupid, but I'm actually looking for photo's from fire trucks taken from above. To make my vehicles even more realistic I need to know how the top looks like, so I can know where to place engine numbers or something.

You've found some misinformation regarding my mod? Maybe you can help with my mistakes. I am trying to keep my mod as realistic as possible, but can be very difficult sometimes as I'm not involved in emergency services. In fact, I don't even live in the US. So if you've found any mistake just post the right information if you want to.

btw If you're interested in 911 First Responders (= English/US Emergency 4) you might want to take look at this website:

http://www.atari.com/us/games/911_first_responders/pc

And again, thanks for your offer. If I need any help or tips I will contact you.

Hoppah

[Hoppah]

Thanks for the picture Mike!

@ zootoo63:

Have you installed a patch?

Don't install any patch on 911: First Responders or Emergency 4 Deluxe/Gold. They are already patched.

What are your computer specs?

[Newfoundking]

Hey, I had this problem before. All you have to do to fix it is close the game, start back up load LA mod and then go back and everything should work. I did it before and That is how I fixed it, My computer, is a P4 1.2 Ghz, and top of the line everything else. I think about 4 GB of Ram

[MCERT1]

Mike,

I know your very knowledgeable, given your background, on a lot of the forestry service units. So, I have to ask how does the Fire Cobra work, is it an observation helicopter or is it used for suppression? And if it's used for suppression does it use a bambi bucket or a belly tank?

[MikesPhotos]

Mike,

I know your very knowledgeable, given your background, on a lot of the forestry service units. So, I have to ask how does the Fire Cobra work, is it an observation helicopter or is it used for suppression? And if it's used for suppression does it use a bambi bucket or a belly tank?

The FireCobra that is in service with the USFS in California and Florida is not used for fire suppression, but instead for IR mapping, Command and Control, and as HELCO (helicopter co-ordinator) on a fire. I know some Depts of Natural Resources also fly them, like in Washington State, and they're used the same way. While meant to be sleek, fast, and agile, attack helicopters were never meant to haul a lot of weight and cargo which is why you still see the venerable Hueys, Sea Kings, and Skycranes doing most of the fire suppression work. Probably the smallest firefighting helicopter I've seen is the Jet ranger with a bambi bucket like Corona City flies. The KMAX 1200 has really won over a lot of converts as well due to its small size and heavy lifting capabilities.

Basically they are to helicopters what CDF Air Attack OV-10s and USFS Lead Planes/ATGS's are to air tankers.

Mike

---

Quick amendment, I decided to give a call to a friend of mine who is with the Florida Dept of Forestry. While the USFS birds are not used for Fire Suppresion, he did say there are a few AH1-P FireSnakes with the DOF that carry a 320 gallon bucket or a special 350 gallon foam belly tank. Unfortunatly, with those small numbers, it's more like spitting at a freight train though. They did try a smaller 25 gallon foam tank that fired through the nose cannon area as well. In his words, the helicopter isn't much of a firefighter, but an excellent HELCO.

[MCERT1]

Thanks for the info Mike,

Since I'm on a customization binge for the L.A. mod I have to ask one more question. I know the Ohio Department of Forestry maintains some portable pumps. Does the USFS and CDF use portable pumps, and just curious does anyone out there still have Indian tanks (not that they'd be that much help outside of small grass fires)?

[MikesPhotos]

Thanks for the info Mike,

Since I'm on a customization binge for the L.A. mod I have to ask one more question. I know the Ohio Department of Forestry maintains some portable pumps. Does the USFS and CDF use portable pumps, and just curious does anyone out there still have Indian tanks (not that they'd be that much help outside of small grass fires)?

Both CDF and the USFS do use portable pumps and I know that in California at least, it is a requirement that Type III engines carry one that will pump at least 35GPM per an OES agreement. It's been a while, but if memory serves me right, CDF uses the Waterous Floto Pump and the Pacific Marine pump.

As far as Indian tanks, otherwise known as backpack pumps or bladder bags for those not familiar with the term, they are much more popular in other parts of the US then on the West Coast. CDF does equip their helitack crews with them due to the nature of their duties, and I beleive the USFS helitack and hand crews use them too. Like you said, they're more for small grass fires and not the fuel load we have out here. They do have their place though, like in Cold Trailing by Type II teams.

Mike

[MCERT1]

Once again thank you for the quick reply and excellent info.

[Guest robdakitten]

Actually....you are useful to me. I'm part of the semi-active ERT (Emergency Response Team) mod for Operation Flashpoint (www.ofp.info for more info). I have absolutely little to NO idea about any kind of proper fire procedures. I have no idea what the difference between an A class call-up and a B class call-up. All the contact I get with FD is either medical related or during community service events.

When I play EM4 I just establish a CP and blast one building with as much water as I can and then move on to the next one. Not very realistic, but hey...it gets the job done.

Learned a little about fire procedure from 'em here and there. I'm trying to get some missions together here for OFP, part of the ERT mod has fire trucks and EMS vehicles in them....two things which I'm a novice in. First-aid and fire-extinguishers is about as good as I get. Would you be interested in giving me the 411 on some of this? It would be much appreciated.

Guess I'll be twiddling my thumbs until 1.5 then to see....unless Mike'd be willing to pass his event.xml over my way.

--RunAwayScientist

completely off topic, but, before I found EM4, and I had been looking at operation flashpoint, and the ERT mods in particular.. how does one get this game and the mods? i find it very interesting as well as the fact that it looks like fun to play.