Cal Fire Riverside Unveils New Sikorsky S-70i Firehawk Helicopter

HEMET (CBSLA) - Cal Fire Riverside County unveiled a new firefighting helicopter Friday.

The Sikorsky S-70i Firehawk offers enhanced firefighting capabilities for Riverside County fire crews. The twin-engine Firehawk is much faster than the single-engine Huey it's replacing. It also has a greater hauling capacity for both water and fuel.

"The Huey would struggle sometimes to climb up steep elevations on hot days where the...Hawk has a tremendous amount of power. In addition, on the air-rescue side of things, the Cal Firehawk has an external mounted hoist that is always on the hoist and ready to perform air-rescue functions," Battalion Chief Joshua Bischof told CBSLA.

The new aircraft, which came with a $26 million price tag funded by the state, will be dispatched from Hemet Ryan Air Attack Base.