Sgt. Ian M. Kummer/U.S. Army National Guard

California National Guard soldiers receive Blackhawk helicopter wildfire training.

The Arizona National Guard is deploying several of its helicopters to help fight wildfires in California.

For the next two weeks, the three helicopters will use water buckets to assist in the firefighting efforts, as Chief Warrant Officer Marco Flores explains.

"We’re going to be flying out around the Sacramento area, so we can actually go out and assist them with whatever they need as far as firefighting capabilities go," Flores said. "It’s kind of sad that this is going on, but I’m pretty honored to be able to help out in any way that we can."

This activation adds to an already record-breaking year for the Arizona National Guard, which has been activated for border security assignments, COVID-19 relief, the protests, and for wildfire suppression missions state wide.