The Southland Firestorm: A Special Report : The Firefighters : On the Fire Line : THE PILOT : ‘There’s Smoke and Wires and Wind. . . . It Does Not Get Boring’

Above the infernos were daredevils such as Robert Dunbar flirting with flames and navigating through black clouds of smoke to drop their water bombs.

“It’s like combat out there,” the Los Angeles County Fire Department pilot said Tuesday as he emerged from his Bell 412 helicopter after a grueling 24-hour shift above the raging Calabasas/Malibu fire. “The smoke, the fires, it’s like it was back then.”

Back then is Vietnam, where Dunbar was shot down twice during Army gunship duty. He took home four Purple Hearts. In his locker is a green combat helmet with two bullet holes--one marked in and the other marked out.

Above Malibu, Dunbar, 48, and his two paramedic crew mates flew in a single-rotor helicopter with a giant water tank attached to the bottom, a $4-million, state-of-the art craft painted yellow, black and white.

It carries 360 gallons of water--about the same as small fire engines carry, but far less than the double-rotor helicopters with suspended buckets that also fought the flames. What the smaller crafts lack in capacity, however, they make up for in precision.

In two days of battle, Dunbar’s Air Squad 17 dropped 279 loads of water onto the raging fires--many of them strategic hits that he says diverted the advancing flames from homes and helped stranded residents reach safety.

“Whether anybody was watching or not, I’m proud of my water drops,” Dunbar said.

One in particular stood out. Dunbar spotted residents on a rooftop as flames came dangerously close. So he maneuvered into position and tamed the blaze from the air.

To make direct hits the helicopter must dive low--ideally 50 feet above the ground, which is lower than the crest of some of the flames--and pick up speed to about 50 miles per hour.

That’s no problem in ideal conditions. But raging winds, clouds of smoke and runaway flames cause the helicopter to twist and turn one second, dramatically drop the next.

“It’s like going down a dirt road in an old car with no suspension--with a big earthquake going on,” said another county pilot, John Finnerty, a 12-year veteran.

The turmoil in the air and the challenge of dropping the load on target make every trip an adventure for the air attack crews.

“There’s 25 aircraft out there flying around in different directions,” said Dunbar, dressed in a blue jumpsuit with an “Air Attack” patch on his shoulder. “There’s smoke and wires and wind blowing. It does not get boring.”

Inside the cockpit is a dizzying array of dials and switches, lights and monitors. Two critical instruments during a fire are the artificial horizon indicator and the radar altimeter, which keep the helicopter right side up and off the ground should it become enveloped in smoke.

The helicopter jobs are coveted positions that go to the most experienced pilots and senior paramedics.

“It is a very unique and exclusive assignment because of the nature of the qualifications,” said Battalion Chief Dean Cathey of the Los Angeles City Fire Department, which has an air crew of its own. “Not everybody can get into the program, and for those who meet the qualifications, there is great competition to get a job.”

The dangers are considered greater than those faced on the ground.

“Because of its hazards--like flying into canyons with flames coming up and strong winds--the people that are in that position are compensated with extra hazard pay,” Cathey said.

All of the airborne firefighters must be accustomed to rugged flying conditions.

Before Dunbar became a county pilot eight years ago, he flew for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He did aerial seeding and fertilization at Mt. St. Helens after the volcanic eruption. He has also searched for narcotics for the Drug Enforcement Administration and flown movie crews and adventurers through rugged terrain in Montana.

In all, he has 18,000 hours in the sky, more than any other county pilot.

Last year, Dunbar and crew members Tom Rollo and David Krisman won the Helicopter Assn. International’s Crew of the Year Award for two dramatic back-to-back rescues in the San Gabriel Mountains. The television show “Rescue 911” is considering a re-creation of the rescues.

“Flying is all I’ve ever done,” Dunbar said. “I have to be in the middle of something that’s going on. I have to be on the front lines. I can’t just watch it on TV.”