( CNN ) -- A whirling black and yellow mechanical beast swoops in to battle a deadly wildfire . For victims , it 's like the cavalry coming to the rescue . They call it the Firehawk.Â . Los Angeles County Fire Department senior pilot Tom Short talks about this helicopter like it 's a super chopper . `` Having been in all of the aircraft that are out there fighting fires , the Firehawk is the best firefighting machine I 've ever seen -- simply because of what it does , '' Short told CNN on the phone this week . `` It does everything : fire , rescue and air ambulance . '' Basically it 's a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter outfitted with a giant water tank . This thing is engineered to get hellishly close to the heat of a raging inferno . Its dual souped-up engines can lift 9,000 pounds -- about the same weight as a large recreational travel trailer . In preparation to dump water over flames , the Firehawk 's snorkel can suck 1,000 gallons of water into its storage tank in the span of one minute . `` We really work these machines very hard . During some fires , Short said , `` I 've made over 100 drops in one day . '' A firefighting super-chopper is especially valuable now , as California braces for what may be one of the worst wildfire seasons on record . How worrisome is it ? The state 's firefighting agency , Cal Fire , has responded to more than 2,500 wildfires in 2014 -- a huge increase in the average number of fires at this point in the year , the agency says . In May , several fires in San Diego County forced thousands of residents from their homes and charred more than 31 square miles . The season usually does n't ramp up until summer or fall .
The Los Angeles County Fire Department uses three Firehawks to combat wildfires . A firefighter from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's helicopter flies over a wildfire in Ventura County, California, on October 11, 2014. Firehawk , a version of the Army 's Black Hawk , can load 1,000 gallons of water in 60 seconds .