Accessible water resources are key to effective wildfire responses, and a Lafayette site near Acalanes High School and Highway 24 is where the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District hopes to place one of its final Helopods.

ConFire officials received a Memorandum of Understanding from East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) in early October as part of the legal paperwork to put a hydrant in proximity to the Deer Hill Road site owned by O'Brien Homes that has been identified for a Helopod so an extension line can be run to fill it as needed for aerial wildfire suppression.

The site for the Helopod is envisioned to be temporary as developing that land near Pleasant Hill Road for homes is still planned in the future.

"We are moving forward," said Fire Captain Paramedic Matthew Depolo, who is the Helicopter ~ INTlRNATlONA.L PRESIDENT'S PREMIER w Program manager and oversees the Helopod program. "We'll get there."

EBMUD spokesperson Andrea Polk said the agency is continuing to work through logistics with ConFire. The hope is that the Lafayette Helopod will be in place as early as this winter or at least by the spring in time for the 2026 wildfire season.

The Lafayette Helopod is one of six, each holding up to 3,770 gallons, that have been funded by $400,000 from the passage of the Measure X half cent sales tax. It was passed by voters in 2020 to fund services for emergencies and vulnerable populations.

Fire officials have access to different airborne resources that can be deployed to carry 350 gallons, from 600 to 1,000 gallons, and even as much as 3,000 gallons when talking about the largest Chinook helicopters.

The high-capacity water tanks fill up with water and enable a helicopter to swoop down, suck an allotment of water in 40 to 50 seconds, and then quickly move on to dump it on the targeted wildfire. Strategic placement of the Helopods will allow for faster replenishment of water as opposed to the time it might take to fly a distance to where reservoirs or lakes on golf courses can be found.

Before use of the Helopods, Depolo suggested there could be a 10- or 15-minute flight time from the fire to the water sources which means a 20-minute turnaround in between drops of water. But during this time the fire grows tremendously between drops.

Having a strategic location like the Lafayette site, which will need a pressurized hydrant system of 40 psi to fill the Helopod at a rate of 800 gallons per minute, will change that scenario and allow for a faster response, he said.

When a helicopter comes to refill, the float in the tank operates like that of a toilet, and the tank is being continuously replenished by the hydrant to which it is connected. The setup at Byron Wildland Fire Center where a hose runs from a hydrant in the parking lot and connects to the Helopod in a nearby field is like the setup envisioned for the Lafayette Helopod site, Depolo said.

The Helopods also are set on areas measuring 200 by 200 feet so they can be accessed by air at night to continue the attack on wildfires.

Two of the Helopods are situated on secure sites, including Byron, so those tanks will be full all the time. But most, like the one along Highway 24, will be kept dry until they are needed. When the wildfire season concludes, the Helopods are drained.

Depolo noted that ConFire will handle maintenance of the Helopods, including the use of chlorine to keep down potential algae buildup. As a result, no additional expense is expected to maintain them. 

The permanent future site for the Lafayette Helopod will eventually be at a location on the eastern rim of Rossmoor where existing infrastructure, including a cement pad and fencing, will remain after work to deconstruct a tank currently at the site is completed. Depolo noted the Rossmoor site is also strategically located for aircraft to refill and make drops on fires around central Contra Costa County.