EARTHQUAKE: THE LONG ROAD BACK : Emergency Crews Get a Big Lift Over Closed Freeways : Transportation: Up to four Chinook helicopters daily ferry about 160 firefighters and 240 deputies into and out of the hard-hit Santa Clarita Valley.

Cut off from the Santa Clarita Valley because of downed freeways and clogged roads, hundreds of additional sheriff’s deputies and firefighters are being airlifted to duty in helicopters in what officials say is an unprecedented aerial effort.

For the past week a squadron of California Army National Guard helicopters has been ferrying the deputies and firefighters between Los Angeles and a landing zone at Magic Mountain in Valencia.

The twin-rotor Chinook helicopters, large enough to carry two pickup trucks, set out every morning to haul firefighters between the two areas, and then perform the same service later in the morning and evening for sheriff’s deputies.

The operation has won praise from county fire and sheriff’s officials for providing quick and reliable transportation for the emergency crews.

“It’s been going extremely well,” said Sheriff Sherman R. Block, who requested the helicopters after realizing that ground transportation would be a problem. “It’s certainly proven itself to be a very valuable approach to moving significant numbers of personnel as quickly as possible.”

Although the Sheriff’s Department often uses its smaller Sikorsky helicopters to move special weapons teams, and the county Fire Department has its own fleet of water-dropping and paramedic helicopters, officials said neither agency has ever before airlifted such large numbers of personnel.

Each of the National Guard transport helicopters can carry more than 30 passengers, two or three times the number that the county’s helicopters can accommodate.

Using up to four helicopters at a time, the airlifts have been carrying about 160 firefighters and 240 deputies to and from work every day.

The firefighters are picked up at El Monte Airport, while the deputies are collected from among about half a dozen locations for the flight to Magic Mountain.

The airlift is necessary because the Sheriff’s Department has reinforced the Santa Clarita Valley--the area hardest hit by the quake in its jurisdiction--with about 120 extra deputies per shift. The Fire Department has beefed up shifts by about 80 extra people.

In the past, the Sheriff’s Department typically has relied on its fleet of buses to move deputies in large numbers.

When assigned to remote stations in emergencies, county firefighters sometimes car-pool. But neither of those approaches looked appealing after last week’s earthquake.

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And because the Santa Clarita Valley has continued to be hit by sizable aftershocks, county fire and sheriff’s officials are keeping their reinforcements assigned to the region.

Block said the airlifts may continue for some time unless other alternatives are found.

During the Los Angeles riots, the National Guard Chinook helicopters were sent from their Stockton base to Southern California, but saw little use, said 1st Lt. Erik Thiesmeyer, the guard’s aviation liaison in Los Angeles. He said the craft were not called in during last year’s massive wildfires.

This time, however, with sections of the Antelope Valley and Golden State freeways that provide access to the Santa Clarita Valley closed by earthquake damage, Thiesmeyer said the squadron of five Chinooks was made available last Tuesday, the day after the quake.

“They were looking at a three-hour drive each way and, when you’re running on a 12-hour shift, you’re looking at a 20-hour day,” the lieutenant said.