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OCFA and Edison urge stable funding for QRF helicopters after state partnership proposal
Summary
Orange County Fire Authority and Southern California Edison funded a Quick Reaction Force (QRF) aerial firefighting program credited with night-time initial attack success; panelists urged creating a sustainable funding mechanism to replace utility funding and referenced legislation to transition funding to the state.
Fire chiefs and local emergency officials told the Assembly committee that a public‑private Quick Reaction Force (QRF) of heavy helicopters has been a cost‑effective tool for rapid initial attack on wildfires and urged a durable funding mechanism beyond utility sponsorship.
Brian Fennessy, fire chief of the Orange County Fire Authority and president of the California Fire Chiefs Association, described the QRF — a fleet that includes CH‑47 Chinook helitankers and a Sikorsky S‑76 command helicopter — as a program able to "hover, fill 3,000 gallons in 90 seconds and drop on precise targets, day or night."…
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