Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Calfire Capital Aircraft topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
CAL FIRE requests capital funding for aging stations and helitack bases and a temporary increase in exclusive-use aircraft contracting
Summary
CAL FIRE presented seven capital projects to repair or replace aging stations and helitack bases and asked the Legislature to raise a two-year cap on exclusive-use aircraft contracting to secure helicopters and other aircraft while the department brings new large air tankers online.
CAL FIRE presented a capital-outlay package that includes seven projects CAL FIRE said are critical to sustain aviation operations, station readiness and crew welfare. Proposals described included relocation or replacement of aging helitack bases (Alma, Boggs, Neland, Prado), replacement of the Butte Fire Center and McDowell and Higgins Corner fire stations, and related facility upgrades.
Michelle Valenzuela, CAL FIRE assistant deputy director for technical services, told the committee many CAL FIRE facilities were built decades ago and exceed their designed 50-year life spans; she said 63% of facilities were constructed before 1960. The proposed 202526#8211;26 capital package includes requests such as $95,331,000 (public building construction fund) for a new Butte Fire Center, $17,421,000 to replace the Prado Helitack Base and preliminary planning requests to relocate the Alma and Boggs helitack bases.
On aerial resources, Deputy Director Jake Shaw and CAL FIRE staff described how exclusive-use aircraft contracts (which guarantee availability) differ from call-when-needed contracts and said exclusive-use agreements were essential in recent years when aircraft were scarce nationwide. Shaw said CAL FIRE had relied on exclusive agreements for large helicopters and helitankers in recent seasons and that, while C-130s are arriving and will reduce some demand, contracted exclusive-use aircraft remain essential for initial attack and to avoid national shortages at peak fire times.
The Department of Finance told the committee it views the aircraft-contract increase as a short-term need while the C-130 tankers come online and that it does not plan to make the exclusive-use increase ongoing. Committee members asked about insurance, siting decisions for helitack bases, water sources at stations, and the strategy for replacing or relocating bases that face operational constraints.
Ending: CAL FIRE said the capital projects address health-and-safety and operational gaps in an aging facilities portfolio and that exclusive-use aircraft contracting is a near-term necessity; the committee asked for more detail on design, insurance/risk and siting as items proceed through the budget process.
