Coulson Aviation has secured a year-round firefighting contract extension valued at US$16 million, which will see the company continue to provide support to Southern California’s Quick Reaction Force (QRF) in 2024. The contract is extendable to 2025 and includes CH-47 Very Large Helitankers, a Sikorsky S-76 intelligence and recon helicopter, and flight and maintenance crews.
The QRF is a fully equipped wildfire suppression programme for Los Angeles, Orange, and Ventura county fire departments that launches day or night at the first sign of fire. This is Coulson’s sixth year contracting with Southern California Edison (SCE) to support the QRF and its second year supporting the QRF 24/7/365.
Since starting with the QRF, Coulson has flown over 700 hours, with 60% of that time at night using night vision goggles (NVGs), and dropped more than 4.5 million gallons of water on just under 200 wildfires. Every fire Coulson fought with the QRF was successfully extinguished in its initial burn – none have expanded into large campaign fires.
“Coulson Aviation is thrilled to extend our support of the Southern California QRF,” said Britton Coulson, President and Chief Operating Officer of Coulson Aviation. “This contract went through a competitive bid process, and Coulson was chosen again because of our high experience level, competitive pricing, and great customer feedback. We look forward to serving Southern California through 2024 and beyond.”
