As a result of the accidents, Cal Fire decided that better approach would be for the agency to own and operate its own helicopters. In 1981, Cal Fire leased 12 excess UH-1F Hueys which had previously been used by the USAF in Vietnam. Nine helicopters were initially reconditioned, and were operated as non-certificated, public-use aircraft. The first helicopter was built up November, 1981 and was placed in service at Hemet-Ryan Helitack Base. Six more F Model Hueys were built up and placed in service at helitack bases throughout California in the summer of 1982. During the first two years Cal Fire employed “Personal Service Contract” pilots. Each base was assigned a full-time pilot and a seasonal relief pilot who covered two bases. The majority of the contract pilots became state employees in 1984. The helitack unit was designed to be a cohesive unit which consisted of the helicopter and helitack crew. A typical configuration for the helicopter was a Helitack Fire Captain in the copilot's seat and a Helitack Fire Captain plus six fire-fighters in the passenger compartment. The water bucket was replaced in 1984 with a newly designed Canadian Bambi bucket. In the mid-1980s, fixed water dropping tanks were installed on several helicopters. Water bucket operations over ever-increasing populated regions in the urban interface areas of eastern Riverside County had been causing a concern. An accidental drop of a water bucket could cause catastrophic results, while a fixed tank reduced the exposure. In addition, some areas where the helicopters operated had few water sources from which a helicopter could fill its bucket. A fixed tank allowed the helicopter to obtain water from sources previously unobtainable with the bucket.