Air Rescue Squad Saved From Budget Ax for Now : Sheriff: The unit will fly at least part time while the Board of Supervisors debates cutbacks. But response times are expected to be longer.

An Angeles National Forest-based air rescue squad that was due to fall victim to the budget ax in the coming year was saved Tuesday when Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block announced he would keep the unit flying at least part time.

But the response time to some search-and-rescue missions in the rugged mountain areas that rim northern Los Angeles County will be longer with the unit in use on just a part-time basis, sheriff’s officials said.

Block had previously said his Emergency Service Detail’s rescue group called Air Five would be grounded by the end of this month and that most of its 17 deputies would be reassigned. Its helicopter was to be moved from Barley Flats near Mt. Wilson to the department’s flight center in Long Beach.

Sheriff’s officials said the plan to cut the unit altogether was suspended Tuesday and the program will remain in service on a reduced basis while awaiting the outcome of budget deliberations by the Board of Supervisors, which start at the end of July.

A list released last week indicated that the supervisors would consider continuing to fund the program despite projected budget cutbacks.

Under the reduced service schedule, the Air Five helicopter and crew will be stationed on active duty at Barley Flats on weekends. On weekdays it will be on standby in Long Beach.

“Our goal would be to have it up there at Barley Flats every day,” Sgt. Robert Stoneman said. “The summertime is when people use that area and it is when they would want the unit up there every day. But it does not appear we can fund it.”

Stoneman said that the unit will be in position on weekends because in the past the unit was most needed on summer weekends, when the mountains draw numerous hikers and campers.

On weekdays, under the plan announced Tuesday, the deputies of the Air Five unit will be reassigned to other duties. But they will be on call along with the unit’s helicopter if a rescue is needed.

“They will have to meet somewhere the helicopter can pick them up,” Stoneman said of the deputies. “The response time will be quite a bit longer.”

Operating and staffing the rescue helicopter full time costs about $1.5 million a year. Stoneman could not provide an estimate of the cost of the reduced level of service.

During its 26-year history, the Emergency Service Detail has been called upon in a great number of the most challenging rescues in the county.

The helicopter unit has plucked people by air from raging flood channels and remote canyon ledges and has conducted lengthy searches for lost hikers, injured skiers and missing scuba divers.

Deputies assigned to the unit are trained in scuba diving, rock climbing, swift-water swimming and paramedic treatment. Last year the unit took part in 783 search-and-rescue missions.