[meyer]

can they fly at night?

My guess would be that it would be very difficult to maneuver around the mountainous areas when considering the darkness and the smoke, unless they can drop from higher altitudes. I really don't know.

[Myrddin]

My wife commented that the helocopters with water buckets don't fly at night because of the danger of hooking power lines. She was working in the dispatch center of the San Diego Sheriff's Dept during the Harmony Grove fire. When the communications tower burned down in Vista, her radio was the only means of communicating with over 60 deputies on the coast and north county. A very harried night.

My wife and I worked with ARES, RACES, Animal Rescue Reserve and Project Wildlife for almost 20 years while we lived in San Diego. It's difficult to be watching this occur and be on the sidelines. Especially since my sister and her family are evacuated from their home in the Cottonwood development and wondering what's next.