Community Corner

Forest Service to Add Night-Flying Helicopter to Fight Fires

The U.S. Forest Service will add a new tool to its firefighting arsenal starting this week: a helicopter to help conduct night time water drops on Angeles National Forest fighters.

The news comes from the office of Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, who used to represent most of Altadena prior to the 2012 election with California's newly redistricted map.

“The restoration of this capability by the Forest Service – though long overdue – could not come at a more critical time, with one wildfire burning across Southern California and more expected throughout the summer," wrote Schiff in a press release.

Schiff is part of a group of California lawmakers that criticized the U.S. Forest Service for having restrictions on night flying to fight fires.  The issue became the subject of local and Congressional hearings following the 2009 Station Fire that burned nearly 250 square miles in the Angeles National Forest.

The issue of allowing night flying was studied for several years by the Forest Service and was also part of a Government Accountability Office study about the Station Fire response.

The original decision to ban night flying came down in the 1970s following the crash of a helicopter during a night fire fighting operation.

The new helicopter will be based out of Lancaster and could be used as soon as this week.


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