Another year, another record-breaking global fire season. This summer, international teams joined forces to attack major wildfires by air and land in Greece, Canada, and Hawaii, among other far-flung locales. In California, where more than 25% of the population lives in areas at very high or extremely high risk of wildfire, a slower season was a welcome reprieve at a time when the state sees an average of more than 1.57 million acres destroyed by fire each year. But firefighting teams in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Ventura County, along with state wildfire crews at Cal Fire, are feeling better prepared to tackle future conflagrations, medical evacuations, and search-and-rescue operations these days because of one particular advantage: the Firehawk, a modified Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter powered by GE Aerospace’s T700 engines

The Los Angeles County Fire Department took Jay Leno for a ride in a T700-powered Sikorsky Firehawk helicopter on his CNBC show Jay Leno's Garage. His take on the T700: “I should get that in my car. That would be alright!”

Due in large part to enhanced T700-701D engines, the wildfire fighting Firehawk helicopter demonstrates increased engine power and reliability for hot-higher altitude operations and improved mission availability.