The Tehama County Sheriff’s Office helicopter, Air Rescue-1 (AIRRES-1), is a Bell UH-1H Iroquois, a proven and highly capable utility helicopter with a long history of military and public-service operations.

AIRRES-1 was provided to the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office at no cost by the United States Department of Defense through the Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO) military surplus program. Through this program, the Sheriff’s Office was able to acquire the aircraft and place it into public-safety service without the substantial purchase cost normally associated with an aircraft of this capability.

Today, AIRRES-1 serves as one of the Sheriff’s Office’s most unique and valuable public-safety resources.

The primary mission of AIRRES-1 is search and rescue throughout Tehama County and the greater North State region. Tehama County encompasses more than 3,000 square miles of diverse and often challenging terrain—from communities, agricultural areas, rivers, and waterways to remote canyons, rugged foothills, and mountain wilderness.

When minutes matter, AIRRES-1 can reach areas that may take ground personnel hours to access. Working alongside the Tehama County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team, the aircraft significantly expands our ability to locate missing or injured persons, deploy rescuers, and reach people in places traditional vehicles simply cannot go.

Equipped with a rescue hoist, high-intensity searchlight, and FLIR thermal-imaging camera, AIRRES-1 can search difficult terrain, operate during periods of limited visibility, locate individuals from the air, and conduct rescues where landing may not be possible.

Beyond search and rescue, AIRRES-1 supports the Sheriff’s Office Patrol Division by providing aerial overwatch and operational support during calls for service, searches, criminal incidents, and other emergencies. From the air, crews can rapidly cover large areas and provide critical real-time information to personnel on the ground.

AIRRES-1 CAPABILITIES

When someone is lost, injured, stranded, or in danger, AIRRES-1 gives our crews another way to reach them—and another opportunity to bring them home safely.

The Tehama County Sheriff’s Office Aviation Unit was established in 2025 after determining that operating our own aircraft could provide significantly greater capability at approximately one-third the cost of the contracted air services previously utilized by the Sheriff’s Office.

NO GENERAL FUND CONTRIBUTION

AIRRES-1 operates without funding from Tehama County’s General Fund.

The Aviation Unit is sustained through alternative funding sources, including:

This funding model allows the Sheriff’s Office to provide a highly capable aviation and rescue resource to our community that does not cost anything to the Tehama County Tax Payers.

TRANSPARENCY & ACCOUNTABILITY

Residents can learn more about the Aviation Unit’s operating costs and how program funding is used by reviewing the current aviation budget.