Three Southern California counties are joining forces to operate the world’s largest water-dropping helitankers prior to the start of a “bad fire season.” The cooperative, dubbed “Quick Reaction Force,” initiates June 15 after Southern California Edison (SCE) donated $18 million to the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA), Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACOFD), the Ventura County Fire Department, Coulson Aviation, and Perimeter Solutions. “This is a game changer,” LACOFD Chief Daryl Osby told The Epoch Times on June 14. The partnership allocates one Chinook CH-47 helitanker to be stationed at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, and another at the Van Nuys Airport. Each aircraft has the ability to drop 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant. A smaller Sikorsky S-61 helitanker will be stationed in Camarillo, with the capacity to drop 1,000 gallons of water or fire retardant. The aircrafts are not limited to these three counties and can be allocated to other counties in the region if necessary. The partnership will run for a 180 day …