Air tankers fight Los Angeles fires from frantic skies

In the skies above Los Angeles, air tankers and helicopters silhouetted by the setting California sun dart in and out of giant wildfire plumes, dropping much-needed flame retardant and precious water onto the angry fires below.

Looking in almost any direction from a chopper above the city, AFP reporters witnessed half a dozen blazes — eruptions of smoldering smoke emerging from the mountainous landscape like newly active volcanoes, and filling up the horizon.

Within minutes, a previously quiet airspace above the nascent Kenneth Fire had become a hotbed of frenzied activity, as firefighting officials quickly refocused their significant air resources on this latest blaze.

Around half a dozen helicopters buzzed at low altitude, tipping water onto the edge of the inferno.

Higher up, small aircraft periodically guided giant tankers that dumped bright-red retardant onto the flames.

“There’s never been so many at the same time, just ripping” through the skies, said helicopter pilot Albert Azouz.

Flying for a private aviation company since 2016, he has seen plenty of fires including the deadly Malibu blazes of six years ago.

“That was insane,” he recalled.

But this, he repeatedly says while hovering his helicopter above the chaos, is “crazy town.”

The new Kenneth Fire burst into life late Thursday afternoon near Calabasas, a swanky enclave outside Los Angeles made famous by its celebrity residents such as reality television’s Kardashian clan.

Aircraft including Boeing Chinook helitankers fitted with 3,000-gallon tanks have been brought in from as far afield as Canada.

Unable to fly during the first few hours of the Los Angeles fires on Tuesday due to gusts of up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour, these have become an invaluable tool in the battle to contain blazes and reduce any further devastation.

Helicopters performed several hundred drops on Thursday, while conditions permitted.

Those helicopters equipped to operate at night continued to buzz around the smoke-filled region, working frantically to tackle the flames, before stronger gusts are forecast to sweep back in to the Los Angeles basin overnight.