De Luz Fire Department conducts training

DE LUZ — De Luz Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) conducted firefighting training on Sunday, April 15, with San Diego County Copter 12, utilizing their new piece of equipment: a 2,000-gallon firefighting water tender. The drills were conducted at Dancing Spirit Ranch on De Luz Road near the San Diego County line.

The training session simulated a wildfire scenario in which a county firefighting copter was ground- filled with water from the tender, then, after lift off, engine crews in the fields nearby directed airdrops by radio communication direct to the pilot.

Thirty firefighters from De Luz VFD plus CAL FIRE/CDF firefighters from the Red Mountain and De Luz stations filled the copter’s 375-galllon tank and directed drops through ten evolutions.

De Luz VFD will officially receive its tender next month after it is fully completed and equipped by the county, just in time for fire season.

This fire apparatus is the first of 16 newly built vehicles for the unincorporated fire agencies in the San Diego County Fire Enhancement Program, which was started in the fall of 2005. De Luz will also be given a new Ferrara Type II Urban Interface engine in six to eight weeks.

The County Fire Enhancement Program is not associated with the Regionalization/Consolidation Plan LAFCO is currently developing. The Enhancement Program pays the annual operating costs and buys new fire engines and equipment for the 14 contracted county volunteer fire departments. It also pays for the eight CDF seasonal fire stations (such as De Luz) to remain open year-round under a contracted Amador Plan.

“This program is funded by the County Board of Supervisors at a cost of $5.8 million per year and directly gives needed equipment, support, training and resources to the unincorporated areas at a fraction of the projected costs of regionalization,” said Mike Manchor, Fire Chief of De Luz VFD. “It has been in operation for only 18 months and has already proven its value to the 14 unincorporated communities it serves. The 16 new water tenders and Type II engines will not only serve the communities they are given to but will also help protect the county as a mutual aid asset staffed by the volunteer firefighters of our county.”