The Orange County Fire Authority, in California, announced last week it would begin using helicopters to hover-fill at night, which was first trialled with helicopters which flew out of Ballarat.

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While there has been aerial firefighting at night in Southern California for many years, the ability to refill bombers' water tanks from dams, pools, and lakes without landing and using ground crews will make the process more efficient.

In Victoria, the Ballarat-based helicopter pilots used night vision goggles to drop water on the Rosedale fire in January, the first time the technology was used in Australia.

A spokesperson for the Orange County Fire Authority said night aerial firefighting was "routine" in California, but new technology on an intelligence and coordination helicopter would assist pilots.

They added the agency will be the first in the United States to contract a large helitanker for night hover filling and firefighting.

"All of the same pilots and engineers on the night firefighting helicopter that worked in Australia, are working on our program," they said in a statement.

The Californian forest fire season began in June, not long after the last major fires in Victoria in March, though there was a tense afternoon following a fire at Mount Clear in April.

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