Air Operations Division

San Diego acquired its full-time fire rescue helicopter, "Copter 1," in July 2005. Based at Montgomery Field, it responds to more than 400 emergencies and logs between 500 and 600 hours of flight a year. City Copter 1 has a 375 gallon water tank that it can fill from a lake or reservoir in 17 seconds.

The second firefighting helicopter "Copter 2" joined the fleet in September 2008.

While supporting fire-fighting operations in San Diego and the region is the primary mission of the helicopter Program, they also serve in hoist-air rescue, short-haul air rescue, offshore rescue, helicopter swiftwater rescue, night vision goggle operations, patient transport, high-rise firefighting, vehicle rescue, large animal rescue, fire mapping, einfrared detection, hazmat team and equipment transportation and disaster assessment.