News: Firefighting aircraft won't be ready in '08

Cal Fire officials may lift their ban on night flying this year, but powerful firefighting aircraft promised by the federal government won't be available.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein recently learned that two California Air National Guard C-130 aircraft won't be ready this year because of lingering equipment issues. U.S. Forest Service officials had promised the planes would be outfitted with the new equipment in July.

“This is unacceptable,” Feinstein, D-Calif., wrote in a letter sent Thursday to President Bush. “As a result, millions of citizens in California and the Western United States will face the catastrophic wildfire threat without these critical firefighting tools.”

Other steps have been taken to strengthen air operations in San Diego County. A new helicopter was ordered, leases are being negotiated for three planes and more firefighters are learning how to battle fires from the sky.

Yet without more changes, some aerial assaults won't be as effective as they could be, leaving the region open to the type of firestorms that blew through the county in October 2003 and October 2007, politicians and fire officials said.

Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, said he has been told that Cal Fire plans to allow nighttime aerial firefighting “in the very near future.”

Cal Fire, the agency responsible for controlling most major wildfires in the county, prohibits helicopters from making water drops after dark, when winds are usually calmer.

Cal Fire does not fly at night because its pilots typically aren't from San Diego, so they aren't familiar with the canyons and rolling hillsides.

“There's only a few agencies in the nation that do night operations, and that's for a reason. It's extremely hazardous and very costly,” said Ray Chaney, the Cal Fire battalion chief in charge of air operations in San Diego County. “But again, it's not out of the realm of possibilities. I do know it's one of those things that we're looking at very closely.”

To lawmakers, the change is an easy one.

“We know the San Diego fire department is capable and willing to fly at night,” county Supervisor Pam Slater-Price said. “We have military assets that can fly at night. So what's the problem?

“It's extremely bureaucratic, at the state level, to make changes. But the public doesn't care. They want to see action. They want the fires put out early on. They don't want to see these huge fires with thousands of homes burned and lives lost. It looked like we got bombed.”

In 2007, 10 people were killed and 1,700 homes were destroyed. Four years earlier, 17 people died and 2,500 homes were lost.

Five months ago, at a federal hearing in Fallbrook to review the response to the 2007 fires, Bilbray and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, urged Cal Fire Chief Ruben Grijalva to lift the ban on night flying.

Since the federal hearing, Issa and Bilbray mostly have been focused on federal firefighting efforts.

Both congressmen said they believe the county is better prepared for the approaching fire season.

“A lot of progress has been made since last October's fires,” said Bilbray, who is seeking $1.5 million for brush management and $3.5 million for enhancements to the county's regional communications system.

Issa is seeking $45 million for the county's fire safety and fuels reduction program in this year's appropriation cycle.

Congress doesn't have any oversight of Cal Fire, which reports to the governor, so Slater-Price said she will ask the Board of Supervisors next month to direct one of its Sacramento lobbyists to push for the night-flying change.

Slater-Price wants to secure around-the-clock aerial coverage before the county spends millions of dollars to lease a massive firefighting helicopter – something she said could happen next year. The Heavy Lift Helitanker would be equipped to fly at night.

A smaller helicopter operated by the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department does fly at night, but not over fires that Cal Fire manages. A second copter the city has ordered also will be limited.

“We have to cut through this bureaucratic red tape,” Slater-Price said. “I want our firefighters up there at night fighting the fires.”

Despite its reputation as a policy-driven bureaucracy, Cal Fire has shown a willingness to change.

The agency was sharply criticized last year for not having enough military helicopter managers – known as spotters – who help pilots position water drops from military helicopters. Cal Fire since has laid the groundwork to more than double its pool of spotters.

There are 35 spotters in California and 52 trainees, including six from the San Diego fire department.

During the 2007 fires, Cal Fire was caught off guard when the Navy and Marines released several helicopters. Those copters were grounded temporarily because there weren't enough spotters.

Cal Fire and the Marines since have reached an agreement similar to a contract the agency has with the Navy. All three held training exercises last week at Camp Pendleton.

“We have the training done. . . . We can now safely and appropriately engage those assets at the right time and the right place,” Cal Fire's Chaney said. “I can't stress enough what a valuable resource this is in our backyard.”

San Diego Fire Chief Tracy Jarman, who has criticized Cal Fire in the past, sounds optimistic.

Jarman said she likes Howard Windsor, who took over May 1 as Cal Fire unit chief in San Diego.

“He and I are going to work well together,” she said.

As for night flying, Jarman said: “I believe in it. You have to get up there and see for yourself. With the new night-vision goggles, it's just as bright as day.”

Source: Article SignonSingDiego.com - Link