This year’s Igor Sikorsky Humanitarian Award goes not to an individual, but to an organization that celebrated a special milestone last year. In 1957, the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACFD) acquired its first helicopter, a Bell 47 G-2. From that humble beginning the department’s Air Operations Section has grown into one of the nation’s largest helicopter firefighting units, currently operating a fleet of six Bell 412s and three Sikorsky S-70 Firehawks. Over the past 50 years, the section has fought countless fires and performed crucial rescue operations, thus fulfilling the Sikorsky award mandate of demonstrating the value of civilian rotorcraft to society, saving lives, protecting property and aiding those in distress. Last year, the Air Ops Section fought 387 fires, performed 1,165 rescues and transported nearly 16,000 passengers.
“It’s an honor to receive the Igor Sikorsky Humanitarian Award,” said Battalion Chief Anthony Marrone, head of the L.A. County Fire Department’s Air Operations Section. “Igor Sikorsky was one of the fathers of helicopter development and had a vision of the helicopter as a rescue tool. I think we’re one of the operators that best shows how to use helicopters in his vision–to rescue people and to put out fires–it’s a completely humanitarian mission that we have.”
