Air tankers and drones are among the forms of aerial support available to the crews—made up of more than 4,500 personnel—tackling the Gifford Fire, which has grown to more than 129,000 acres since Aug. 1.
Helicopters are in the mix as well—some armed with a crucial accessory firefighters are using to essentially fight fire with fire.
“[We] brought in a helitorch, and that operation will allow us to light fire from an aerial platform,” California Interagency Incident Management Team 5 Operations Section Chief Nate Hamm said at the San Luis Obispo Veterans Hall during an Aug. 11 community meeting…