Fire helicopter not hangared in Fallbrook as promised

In July 2004 the San Diego County Board of Supervisors authorized the purchase of two fire and life safety helicopters and assigned operational control of those helicopters to the Sheriff's Department. The Sheriff's Department took delivery of two Bell 205 A-1 helicopters on June 27, 2005, and stationed them at the ASTREA (Aerial Support To Regional Enforcement Agencies) base at Gillespie Field in El Cajon. The plan at the time was that once the infrastructure to house the two helicopters was in place, one would be based at Fallbrook Community Airpark and the other would be based at Ramona Airport.

Hangaring, maintenance, and possibly other issues have limited the helicopter's presence in Fallbrook. "There is a whole long list of reasons why it's not here," said Bill Metcalf, who has been the fire chief of the North County Fire Protection District since 2003. "I've given up on keeping track of those."

For Metcalf, as the chief of the local fire department, the helicopter complements his ground assets. In addition to the local fire departments, at least four county agencies are involved to some extent; the Sheriff's Department operates the helicopters, the Office of Emergency Services hosts the operations center and coordinates the regional response for a large-scale incident, the county's fire services program under the Department of Planning and Land Use coordinates with local departments for equipment purchases and contracts with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and the county-operated airports are under the Department of Public Works.

"There's lots of opportunity to point fingers at somebody else," Metcalf said.

On June 22, 2005, the supervisors approved the county's 2005-06 budget which included $550,000 for the acquisition of capital improvements to Fallbrook Community Airpark to allow a firefighting helicopter to be based in Fallbrook. The needs for basing a helicopter in Fallbrook included a helicopter pad, a modular building for storage, and a fuel facility or fuel truck.

On July 26, 2005 the supervisors authorized a sole-source contract for the purchase of a refurbished fuel truck to be based at Fallbrook Community Airpark when not being driven or at the scene of an incident. At the time Al Skoglund was the Sheriff's Department captain whose area of responsibility included emergency services; Skoglund did not have a timetable for the planned transfer to Fallbrook Airpark but said that the Sheriff's Department's facilities personnel had the transfer as a priority and were moving quickly.

The modular building, which can accommodate overnight lodging for pilots and other firefighting personnel, and the helicopter pad were completed in 2006. "We were told that addressed the need for infrastructure, and then we noticed that the helicopter still wasn't here too often," Metcalf said.

On September 20, 2005 the supervisors approved a sole-source request for helicopter parts and components for the two helicopters. Skoglund expected the helicopters to be moved to the Ramona and Fallbrook airports prior to the start of the next fire season.

Charlie Campe is the current Sheriff's Department captain in charge of emergency services. "It has been in Fallbrook, definitely," said Campe, who replaced Skoglund in January 2007. "Whenever we can, we send it there."

Although fire season is year-round in San Diego County, some periods are lower risk than others. The Sheriff's Department targets the April-May timeframe for annual maintenance

requirements. "That alone took three to four weeks on each helicopter," Campe said.

Since at least one helicopter was scheduled to be operational at any given time, the maintenance on two helicopters doubled the period in which only one of the aircraft was available. "We don't take them down both at the same time," Campe said.

In addition to the annual maintenance, a three-day maintenance period is required after every 100 hours of operation.

In the event of a fire both helicopters will be sent to the scene if they are both operational. "When they call for our assets, both assets go," Campe said.

Although the helicopters have been used in the Fallbrook area, they serve the entire county and departure from Gillespie Field or Ramona Airport is often quicker to the scene. The helicopters are used for emergency rescue operations as well as for fire suppression.

Ironically, when the City of San Diego was leasing two firefighting helicopters and the County of San Diego was contributing funding, one of those helicopters was based at Montgomery Field in San Diego and the other was based at Fallbrook Community Airpark. The City of San Diego's Fire/Rescue Department, which had operational control of the helicopters during the lease which preceded the county's acquisition of the current aircraft, felt that Fallbrook Community Airpark was the best site to serve North County.

The estimated time for the helicopter to fly from Gillespie Field to Fallbrook Community Airpark is 20 minutes. The U.S. Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection both have an air base at Ramona Airport, and the estimated travel time of the USFS helicopter from Ramona to Fallbrook or DeLuz is 15 minutes.

"It does us no more good than what we've always had," Metcalf said.

That time from Gillespie Field, Metcalf warns, is only the travel time. Additional time is required between the call and the aircraft's takeoff, and Metcalf cites a 30-35 minute timeframe between the request and the presence of a helicopter overhead. "I've been on several fires where I've specifically looked at my watch and timed it," he said.

CDF houses two state tankers and an observation aircraft at Ramona Airport, and USFS stations a helicopter at Ramona. CDF also has two state tankers and an observation aircraft, along with a state helicopter, at its Hemet air base.

Fallbrook is approximately midway between Ramona and Hemet – Metcalf notes that the dividing line for which air base will serve a wildfire is approximately at Interstate 15 and East Mission Road. "We're used to helicopters taking a long time to get here," he said.

Metcalf also noted that a Fallbrook-based helicopter will drop its snorkel prior to takeoff and arrive at a local fire ready to drop water. That is not the case for the flights out of Gillespie Field, from where the additional weight of water would reduce the speed of the aircraft. Water is often obtained from golf course ponds and irrigation pools, both of which are plentiful in Fallbrook.

Metcalf estimates an overall difference of between 20 and 30 minutes before the helicopters begin suppressing fires. "That's a huge amount of time when it comes to wildland fires in the early stages," he said.

The U.S. Forest Service does not have a Hemet air base; other than Ramona the nearest USFS air base is in San Bernardino. The estimated helicopter flight time from Ramona to Boulevard or Ocotillo is 55 to 60 minutes.

While the Sheriff's Department's Copter 12 is officially based in Fallbrook, it is housed at a Gillespie Field hangar. "We don't leave it overnight in Fallbrook," Campe said. "Weather, humidity, rain, etc., it's not good."

Metcalf understands the need for a sheltered overnight storage site but wonders why that hadn't been more clearly explained in the early phases of the helicopter acquisition. "We are probably all guilty of thinking that one and one added up to two," he said. "That wasn't the case."

Other than the provision of the infrastructure, the role of County Airports is as a landlord. The Sheriff's Department is a tenant and is officially treated by County Airports like other tenants such as Color Spot Nursery, the Fallbrook Sports Association, and Fallbrook Air Service. The Sheriff's Department is responsible for developing and maintaining its leasehold, so if the funding is available a hangar for the helicopter could be constructed at Fallbrook Community Airpark.

"When it does come here it typically doesn't arrive until after noon and it's gone by five o'clock," Metcalf said.

The Sheriff's Department currently does not have a leasehold at Ramona Airport.

"I think there were a lot of us in Fallbrook that took what we were told," Metcalf said. "There isn't a helicopter that's based in Fallbrook, and this myth keeps getting perpetuated."

Metcalf's comments are intended to dispel a community sense of security rather than to complain about the Sheriff's Department decision. "I don't want to get into any kind of argument with the Sheriff's Department," he said. "I just want to make sure everybody here understands what resource we actually have or don't have."

Metcalf has heard that Fallbrook Community Airpark lacks appropriate security at night, that the mechanics based at Gillespie Field didn't want to drive to Fallbrook, and that the CDF pilots didn't want to drive to Fallbrook. "I have been told all sorts of reasons why it's not been here," he said.

"I've resigned myself to the fact that the helicopters are the responsibility of the Sheriff's Department and they're going to do with them what they want," Metcalf said.

Metcalf is more disappointed in the lack of communication with local fire agencies than the decision itself. "There hasn't been any interagency coordination. They do what they want to do and we live with it. It has been a struggle for us to even get information on their plan where the helicopters will be," he said.

The Sheriff's Department has improved that communication; a daily page informing response agencies where the helicopter will be is now provided to CDF's Monte Vista dispatch center for distribution to local departments. "It does make a difference in our field commander's thinking if they know they're going to have the helicopter available in five minutes versus half an hour," Metcalf said.

Campe is willing to work with local departments to improve the efficiency of the helicopters. "We provide a service. I want people to make sure we're giving good service. If there is a problem, I definitely want to look at it," he said. "If we are lacking, I definitely want to help improve the service."