The team at California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) are dedicated to the fire prevention, fire protection and stewardship of over 31 million acres of California’s privately-owned wildlands.
In addition, the Department provides varied emergency services in 36 of the State’s 58 counties via contracts with local governments.
Preventing wildfires in the State Responsibility Area is a vital part of CAL FIRE’s mission.
While these efforts have occurred since the early days of the Department, CAL FIRE has adapted to the evolving destructive wildfires and succeeded in significantly increasing its efforts in fire prevention.
We work to prevent wildfire through wildland pre-fire engineering, vegetation management, fire planning, education and law enforcement.
Beyond its wildland firefighting role, CAL FIRE is an “all-risk” department.
It may very well be a CAL FIRE engine and crew that is dispatched to the scene of an auto accident, or to a home where a child has become the victim of a drowning incident.
The Department is always ready to respond – medical aids; hazardous material spills; swift water rescues; search and rescue missions; civil disturbances; train wrecks; floods, earthquakes and more.
In this exclusive interview with Chris Jurasek, Staff Chief of Operations for CAL FIRE’s Aviation Program, FSJA hears all about what it is like to manage the largest aerial firefighting fleet in the world and how the January 2025 Southern California wildfires forced a change in aviation response.
My name is Chris Jurasek and I serve as the Staff Chief of Operations for the CAL FIRE Aviation Program.
In this role, I provide leadership and strategic oversight for the Department’s aerial operations, including policy development, program direction and governance across fixed-wing, rotor-wing and uncrewed aerial systems (UAS).
My responsibilities also extend to Department of Defense aviation support and California National Guard aviation programs, wildland fire chemical operations and aviation training.
The CAL FIRE Aviation Program is designed for rapid initial attack.
Aircraft are strategically positioned throughout California and maintained in a constant state of readiness. Our aircraft fleet is maintained by nearly 200 highly skilled maintenance personnel.
These aircraft are not only maintained at our airbases but also at our Aviation Headquarters maintenance facilities in McClellan, California.
When the Department receives a report of a wildland fire, aviation resources can be airborne within minutes and reach most State Responsibility Areas within 20 minutes.
Early response allows CAL FIRE to meet our objective of controlling 95% of fires at 10 acres or less.
The number and diversity of our fleet allow us to slow fire spread immediately, protect communities and support firefighters on the ground.
During the January 2025 Southern California wildfires, CAL FIRE aviation was a critical component of our response.
Despite occurring outside the traditional fire season, these wind-driven fires required an immediate and aggressive aviation response.
This immediate response was facilitated by the constant state of readiness of our fleet year-round.
Early water and retardant drops during Santa Ana wind events supported evacuations and provided ground forces the time and space needed to engage safely, helping protect lives and property.
The 2025 fires reinforced the importance of flexibility, coordination and safety in aerial firefighting.
CAL FIRE aviation resources and management personnel adapted to extreme wind conditions by prioritizing risk management, precision drops and structure defense within the wildland-urban interface.
During a nearly month-long deployment, we navigated multiple distinct wind events.
Assets were proactively repositioned from our established incident helibases in advance of winds that would have exceeded aircraft starting limitations.
By strategically shifting these assets as conditions evolved, we maintained effective statewide coverage.
Early, coordinated aviation response, supported by real-time intelligence, remains essential year-round.
The integration of uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) into CAL FIRE’s Aviation Program was a planned and deliberate decision.
The primary objectives were to reduce risk to crewed aviation assets when appropriate and to fully leverage advanced sensor technologies.
Equipped with thermal imaging, UAS provides real-time situational awareness and mapping, allowing supervisors to see through smoke and monitor fire behavior both day and night.
Additionally, the use of Plastic Sphere Dispensing (PSD) payloads enables aerial ignition to support controlled firing operations while minimizing exposure to crewed aviation operating in a “low-and-slow” flight profile to complete the same mission.
Utilizing UAS to perform aerial ignition also reduces risk to firefighters on the ground.
Alongside firefighting, UAS have become a tool in search and rescue operations.
In this role, these systems use advanced sensor payloads and artificial intelligence with victim-recognition technology to quickly locate lost or injured individuals.
This allows responders to search large or rugged areas far more efficiently while significantly reducing the risk to responding personnel on the ground and in the air.
Drones are also increasingly being used for critical cargo delivery during rescues.
They can deploy flotation devices to victims in the water or deliver two-way radios, medical supplies and other life-saving equipment, often reaching people faster than traditional methods when time and access are limited.
This year, we are excited to be able to offer our UAS Incident Operations Course to local government partners for the first time.
Over the past four years, CAL FIRE has worked intentionally to develop an instructional cadre capable of delivering this course beyond our own department.
Our UAS team worked to become certified instructors through the National Wildland Coordinating Group and the Department of the Interior and are assisting with the development of UAS pilot standards in California to support all-hazards incident response, in alignment with a concurrent national effort to establish consistent guidance.
The goal is to provide a standardized UAS pilot training program applicable to all-hazards incident operations and accessible to all fire agencies operating outside the Fire Traffic Area (FTA).
Establishing a consistent training standard will increase operational efficiencies, enhance interoperability across jurisdictions and disciplines and most importantly, improve overall airspace safety during incident operations.
