A sudden shift in wind direction in the Santa Monica Mountains Friday afternoon pushed the Palisades Fire north and east, spreading in two different directions: toward Encino and Brentwood.

In the southern San Fernando Valley and west of Los Angeles, terrified Angelenos watched as leaping flames and plumes of smoke continued to rise from ridges late into the night, fearing that the already catastrophic fires could destroy new parts of the city.

But this time, there were two key differences in the firefight: A fleet of large water- and fire-retardant aircraft were at the ready, and the wind, although strong, allowed them to take off.

So the pilot went to work.

The next 24 hours turned into an all-out assault of air assets, with enough helicopters responding to the fire outbreak that helicopters sometimes stood in a line just waiting for the order to make the next airdrop. Conveniently located water sources, particularly the Encino Reservoir (less than a mile from the fire's northern front), also helped speed up the refilling of water tanks, officials said.

Although the fire eventually grew to about 1,000 acres and may have damaged or destroyed some homes, the massive push prevented the fire from spreading again into urban areas. By Saturday night, much of the region was breathing a collective sigh of relief.

"Honestly, a lot of it has to do with the amount of resources that we have available, everybody was briefed, everybody was prepared," said Sean Pride, battalion chief for aviation with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection . “As prepared as we were on Day 1 ... we still didn’t have as many (resources) as we did on Friday, and honestly, that was a big part of our success — not just in the air, but on the ground as well. ”

In contrast to Tuesday's chaos - when planes were grounded during a key part of the initial firefight due to winds reaching 80 mph - the airstrikes on Friday and into Saturday were key to preventing another catastrophic escape.

"We had so many aircraft that there was no break in the firefight," said Jim Hudson, the Cal Fire incident commander in charge of the Palisades fire. "They would go around the area, get permission to come in, then drop down, then fill in. It was just a constant cycle. ... It was a lot; that's what it took."

Flight trackers showed the fleet circling between Encino Canyon and the fire's northern front Friday night and into Mandeville Canyon on the eastern edge of the fire.

With so much air support, crews dropped more than 650,000 gallons of water on the fire from 8 a.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Saturday, Prede said, with about half of it being dropped overnight Friday through Saturday. of.

"It's huge," he said, noting it was the most water dropped by the Palisades Fire in 24 hours so far. “Everyone came together that day.”

Helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft from several nearby jurisdictions, as well as across the state, country and Canada, were at the ready under the unified command of multiple fire agencies. Los Angeles Fire Department Air Operations Battalion Chief Brett Willis said at least three types of helicopters were flying during the attack, including helicopters that can hold 480 gallons, 1,000 gallons and 2,500 gallons of water, as well as fixed-wing aircraft mainly designed to reduce drag. fuel. He estimated a dozen planes were on fire at various times on Friday and Saturday. Capt. Eric Scott, a spokesman for the LAFD and Palisades Fire, said more than 40 helicopters were dispatched to the fire, along with several fixed-wing aircraft sharing fires in the area.

"It's ongoing," Willis said.

He recalled flying over the fire early Friday and worried that weather changes could threaten Mandeville Canyon, a small but affluent area of ​​Brentwood.

“If the weather turns, if we get wind, if we’re not careful, we really could lose Mandeville,” Willis remembers saying.

As it happened, the winds shifted from typical offshore Santa Ana winds to onshore winds, further fueling the fires.

"We saw the wind shift very slowly and we ordered the aircraft away from our helicopter base," Willis said. "Quickly, we went from about three or four aircraft in very quiet fire to 12 aircraft with heavy helicopter tankers and preparing for an air attack to order fixed-wing aircraft."

Officials called for evacuations in the mountains of Brentwood, Encino and Tarzana as new winds spread to the north and east. The flames rushed toward fire breaks set up along Mulholland Boulevard and over the fire breaks west of Mandeville Canyon.

By Saturday morning, fixed-wing aircraft had also joined the fight.

"Fixed-wing retardant-dropping aircraft just hit the area," Willis said. "It was absolutely necessary, and it was probably the tipping point that saved the rest of the area."

Willis said the aircraft not only refueled at Encino Reservoir, but also from Stone Canyon Reservoir above Highway 405 and from several nearby locations where aircraft can refill fire hydrants, including Topanga. He estimated that some helicopters could drop, replenish and drop again within 10 to 20 minutes if needed. In some cases, they are lining up, waiting to be dispatched to hot spots or fire lines, Hudson said.

"They just lined them up," Hudson said. "They'd go 12 miles out until it was their turn, and then it just kept rotating. ... They came in, retarded, next plane, retarded. They were just building the line and putting the points Connected. They reloaded and went back into the stack."

While the airstrikes proved crucial, Willis said they were only effective if coordinated with ground crews.

"It's a total team effort; we just have different jobs," Willis said. "But because of the geographic scope and volume of fires to cover, we were seeing fire behavior that we had never seen before...and we knew fighting from the air would be a key component."

After spending much of Friday night watching the steady dripping water and hoping the fire wouldn't threaten her home in Tarzana, Sarah Cohen said she was in awe of the firefighting efforts.

"They deserve a parade and a bonus," Cohen said Saturday.

While the fires are still raging and the winds remain a concern, it's hard to feel too much relief, but Willis said he's proud of what they accomplished Friday and Saturday.

"Despite all of this damage or loss, we had a lot of successes and a lot of rescues," Willis said. "I think aviation assets are an absolutely critical component of massive savings."

Times staff writer Dakota Smith contributed to this report.