VIDEO: Firefighters use all types of equipment to fight wildfires throughout Kern County, but one fire department is using a new piece of equipment that is truly a sight to be seen. The blue skies of Kernville are usually filled with small planes, plenty of birds and helicopters. For the past few weeks, they have been the home for a more peculiar aircraft: The K-1200. “Flying this one is pretty unique, it’s unlike the other ones,” said pilot Derek Emmert. “It’s got unique characteristics.” Most commercial helicopters have two sets of propellers. One at the top to help with lifting and moving the craft, and one on the tail to prevent uncontrollable spinning. The K-1200 has no tail propeller, instead it uses two top propellers spinning in different directions.
“Most of them have a single rotor system,” said Emmert. “With the two main rotor systems like this, they spin opposed to each other…it gives us a lot more power.” The helicopter has been in the county for a couple of weeks. It’s main use has been for combatting fires in the county, including the Little Fire, according to the U.S.D.A. Forest Service. Emmert says that the helicopter’s double propeller feature has made extinguishing flames a whole lot easier. “We can get into tighter canyons…we can get closer to the ground, closer to the ground crews and have more control over where to dump the water,” said Emmert. “It helps us lift more…we can lift up to 6000 pounds of stuff.”
