County Fire Department Seeks $1.2-Million for Helicopter

The Orange County Fire Department has proposed a $1.2-million plan to add a helicopter to its firefighting arsenal in an effort to avoid the kind of disaster that devastated Laguna Beach last fall.

Having already endorsed the program in concept, the Board of Supervisors is expected to approve the request Tuesday so that the helicopter can be in place by the Fourth of July weekend, a potentially hazardous period for fire and other emergencies, officials said.

“This contract would give the Fire Department, for the first time, the ability for immediate, initial air attack on a fire,” Chief Larry J. Holms said in a report to the board. “This initial attack response is critical to stopping a beginning wildfire and avoiding conflagration.”

Board of Supervisors Chairman Thomas F. Riley, whose district includes Laguna Beach where 441 homes were damaged or destroyed in last fall’s firestorms, said he would support the program if the budget permits.

“Certainly, at this time I would like to have it,” Riley said. “There is no doubt that this would be helpful, but we’ve got to have the money.”

According to the proposal, the aircraft would be leased for a year from Evergreen Helicopters Inc., which also provides services to the California Department of Forestry. Evergreen would be paid through existing savings of $1.2 million in the Fire Department budget.

The board first endorsed the helicopter program in March, when Holms presented a 50-page report reviewing the department’s response to wildfires in Laguna Beach, Anaheim Hills and another off Ortega Highway. Together, the fires caused $528 million in damage.

In the report, Holmes said that helicopters were necessary to fight fires of the magnitude that raked Orange County last fall and indicated that more readily available firefighting helicopters could have spared much damage in Laguna Beach.

In the past and during the fall firestorms, Orange County has relied on other agencies to provide helicopter assistance during fire emergencies.

If approved by the board, the helicopter will be based at John Wayne Airport and also would be used for fire detection, personnel transportation and rescue services.