The U.S. Forest Service is Southern California’s first line of defense against wild fires, but the number of air tankers available to the agency has decreased in recent years -- from 42 to 11, according to USFS Chief Tom Tidwell, who went before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Tuesday.
The agency is asking for $24 million to replenish its depleted, aging fleet.
CAL FIRE, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, maintains 23 aircraft stationed at 13 bases statewide, including one in Hemet. They team up with the USFS during fire disasters.
"It’s the CAL FIRE air tanker program’s goal to have aircraft arrive on any fire, anywhere in the state, within 20-minutes," said CAL FIRE Chief Mike Smith.
California fire statistics point to increased danger. From the beginning of Jan. 2012 to the end of February, CAL FIRE was called to 400 wildfires that burned 600 acres.
That’s more than twice the amount of calls they responded to during the same period in 2011, when they were called to 130 wildfires that burned 160 acres.
This fire season, CAL FIRE plans to staff its air tankers two weeks earlier than it typically would because of the increased fire danger.
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CAL FIRE’s airborne fire fleet is the largest in the nation.
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