On October 8, 2017, a CHP officer with Golden Gate Air Operations was returning to the Napa County Airport from a surveillance flight and observed a “glow” northeast of Napa – a quickly growing wildfire covering approximately 10 acres. The officer notified dispatch, who then notified CalFire. CHP Officers Pete Gavitte and Whitney Lowe, also with Golden Gate Air Operations, monitored the call and responded to the Atlas Peak area of Sonoma County. Upon arriving, they observed smoke-filled air and a towering wall of flames more than a mile long. They noticed that numerous residents were trapped between the fire and the hillsides. Due to the location of the fire and its rapid increasing size, many residents of the Atlas Peak area were trapped above the fire line. The Golden Gate Air Operations crew monitored radio traffic from CalFire calling for evacuations, but as CalFire resources were unable to reach the Atlas Peak residents, Officers Gavitte and Lowe used the helicopter’s public address system, siren and searchlight to alert the sleeping residents. Officers Gavitte and Lowe recognized that the only escape for the Atlas Peak residents would be by helicopter rescue. Despite the firestorm’s 80-mile per hour wind gusts and extreme downdrafts and updrafts, the officers decided to fly into the smoke and land near the line of vehicles attempting to leave the Atlas Peak area. The helicopter only held four people at a time and the officers realized additional assistance would be necessary. They requested help from CHP Northern Division Air Operations and Officers Chad Millward and Phil Agdeppa responded to the call. The two helicopter crews began coordinating rescues and identifying drop-off locations as fires continuously overran the landing zones, together saving 41 lives. Aerial surveillance from the night of the rescues shows the rescue area was completely overrun by fire. For their extraordinary bravery, heroism, and courage in the face of imminent and personal life- threatening peril, their actions went above and beyond the call of duty and exemplify the highest standard of a California public safety officer.