Bridger Aerospace Group had its earliest deployment ever for an aerial firefighting and wildfire management company when they took to the skies in January to help battle devastating wildfires in Malibu and the Los Angeles area.
Wildfires in southern California ignited barely a week into 2025. The Palisades fire scorched over 23,000 acres while the Eaton Fire charred another nearly 14,000. It was a scorching start to the year for Los Angeles County.
Sam Davis' Bridger Aerospace Group deployed crews to help battle the blazes that impacted the Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and the Los Angeles area. Davis is the CEO of the aerial firefighting company that was founded in 2014.
"It's the earliest start we've seen," said Davis, according to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. His company operates specialized aircraft that include CL-415EAF "Super Scoopers," Pilatus PC‑12s, Twin Otters, Kodiaks, and UAVs, or unmanned aerial vehicles.
Through the third week of June, California has already experienced nearly 3,000 wildfires that have burned over 92,000 acres across the state and destroyed more than 16,000 structures. Most of the wildfire season is still to come. The peak season is typically June through October, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to identify since wildfires are now frequently sparked year-round.
Nationally, there have been 33,000 wildfire incidents that have burned over 1.7 million acres across the country.
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An analysis of 21 years of data from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites, which detect active wildfires twice each day, found "that extreme wildfires have become more frequent, more intense, and larger."
A 2024 study revealed that extreme wildfires have more than doubled in both frequency and intensity over the past 20 years. Meanwhile, Climate Central reports a sharp rise in "fire weather days" across much of the U.S. over the last half-century. There is a growing number of days with weather conditions conducive to the ignition and spread of wildfires.
"This year we've had fires from New Jersey to L.A. already," added Davis. "It is making people more aware of something that is literally all over the country."
New technology is helping firefighters battle blazes this year. A new NASA sensor was put to use in March to help firefighters who battled a wildfire in Alabama. What makes the technology special in the Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer 3 (AVIRIS-3) allows scientists aboard the aircraft to instantly process and interpret the data, then transmit the results directly to firefighters' phones on the ground.
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Yes — always 💯 Davis' company is also developing new tools, including mobile applications, to improve coordination between ground crews, command centers, and aerial teams.
"We can aggregate real-time information so incident commanders can have access to real-time information," Davis explained.
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