LAKEPORT, Calif. – The skies over Lake County have been filled this week with air traffic as a result of the Valley fire.

Aircraft play a key role the fight against the Valley fire, which broke out Saturday in the Cobb area, and in a matter of hours had spread to Hidden Valley Lake and Middletown.

A number of the copters working the incident are based at Lampson Field.

Crazy Creek Gliderport in Middletown had previously served as a helibase during the Rocky and Jerusalem fires, but with the gliderport being in the Valley fire area, the staging area for helicopters moved to Lampson's safer location.

The helicopters being used on the incident include an Astar B3, which needs to be fueled as often as every two hours of use during the fires, according to Ben Crittenden, a senior firefighter with the Big Hill Helitack from Eldorado National Forest. 

Crittenden also pointed to a Bell 2-12 and three Bell 205 Vietnam era-style helicopters.

The helicopters are used for various operations, including water drop buckets that hold typically 250 or more gallons of water, Crittenden said.

The largest of the helicopters at Lampson are the two Sikorsky Skycranes, which Crittenden said are both capable of carrying more than 2,000 gallons of water to drop on the fire.

Then there is the S61 Croman, which Crittenden said is another large tanker craft used for water drops.

At the end of the day, crews refuel, perform any required maintenance and hold a debriefing.