San Diego County officials added some “aerial muscle” to wildfire preparedness by leasing a fourth firefighting helicopter, but warned that the worst of fire season is still to come.
“The risk in our region always rises this time of year as the Santa Ana winds pick up,” said Supervisor Diane Jacob at a press conference at the San Diego Sheriff’s helicopter base in El Cajon.
The UH-1H Huey helicopter, leased from Blackhawk Helicopters in El Cajon, can carry 375 gallons to fight fires. It joins two helicopters owned by the sheriff’s department and a helicopter loaned to the county by San Diego Gas & Electric Co.
Supervisor Bill Horn said one of the reasons that the wildfires in May caused relatively little damage was that the Marine Corps provided 22 helicopters. He said he wished the county had more helicopters of its own.
“I would like to see us have up to five. You can have four in the air at any one time,” said Horn, who had encouraged the county to lease the aircraft.
SDG&E is helping the county pay for two firefighting aircraft as well.
Cal Fire Unit Chief Tony Mecham said that because of the drought there is an extraordinary amount of flammable dry brush in the back country. “I am extremely concerned going into the fall,” he said.
Sheriff Bill Gore urged residents to register their cell phones for alerts at www.readysandiego.org and be prepared to evacuate.
“Last, and most important — pray for rain,” he added.
