Fighting Fire In California

By Ray DiLorenzo

That’s me flying over Mt. Palomar Observatory in San Diego County. Visibility was at a premium that day, but we saved it.

Since the current news is totally devoted to the fires in California, and justifiably so, I thought I would talk about my experiences as a fire pilot. I flew fire for the state of California for 22 years, and after that, I had a 1-year contract with the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

I flew what is known as Air Attack. An AA is the plane that manages the fire. We plan with the ground incident commander (IC) how we are going to fight the fire, decide the resources we will need, the number of aircraft and ground firefighters, and where the safe zones or escape routes are for ground personnel in case of a blowout. We direct fire engines and crews to the fire, especially in remote areas. We look for lakes or water sources for helicopters to dip in, identify any towers or obstacles that could get in the way of the tankers and helicopters, decide which altimeter setting we will use so everyone is on the same page, notify the IC of any change in fire behavior, look for spot fires which could appear well outside the burn, and, the most nerve-wracking of all, act as air traffic control for all the aircraft that will soon crowd the sky, including media choppers who want to get their pictures in for the 5 o’clock news. All in a relatively small area.

Fires can be caused by arson (85%), lightning strikes, downed power lines, or accidents. A hunter, lost and without a cell signal to make a call, ignited a fire to attract attention. He did get attention. That fire burned tens of thousands of acres. Another man decided to mow his beautiful 20 acres in the heat of the day; he hit a rock that caused a spark. We saved his house, but those 20 acres looked like the moon when the fire got through with it . Two hunters started a fire trying to bird-dog a buck out of the brush. When we arrived, I could see one of the hunters look up at us and say, “Oh s**t!”

Some states, like Florida, have hurricanes. States like Kansas, Oklahoma, or Texas have tornadoes. California has earthquakes, mudslides, and fire—lots of fire. In the 22 years I flew fire, I only remember maybe 3 or 4 years that I would consider light fire years.

Being a one-party state contributes significantly to California’s problems. The state effectively suppresses any dissenting views to a mere murmur. Their failure to manage water to capture snow runoff and rain, their failure to remove forest underbrush, and their ban on timber production and control burns all contribute to this. In California, owls and fish have priority. Their powerful environmental lobby, coupled with billions of dollars spent on the homeless, sanctuary illegal immigration, and a $100 billion high-speed rail boondoggle, the greatest infrastructure disaster in US history, has left Californians without adequate police and fire protection, despite paying the highest taxes in the country. Mayor Bass even diverted $20 million from the LAFD to projects like a gay men’s chorus. Californians deserve better.

I will say this right off: I believe California has the finest firefighting air program in the world. They have the best equipment, the best aircraft, and some of the finest pilots I have ever flown with. They have the best stick and rudder pilots anywhere.

For air attack, we flew the OV-10 Bronco, the finest aircraft California could have picked for the job. The US Air Force, the Marine Corps, and the US Navy previously used them for observation and close air support. During a static display at an airshow, a former Marine approached me and shared that an OV-10 had saved his life in Vietnam. The Viet Cong held them down, but an OV-10 flew in and blasted the area. California got a hold of about 20 aircraft that were retired from the military. Like the tankers, they were all formerly military aircraft. The state spared no expense in rebuilding the aircraft for fire use. The OV-10 has two tandem seats, with the pilot up front and the air attack officer in the rear, with almost 360-degree visibility. The air attack officer is always either a battalion chief or a fire captain. He serves as the primary liaison between the tankers and the IC and typically possesses extensive training to effectively perform his duties.

I say typically because, like most large organizations, there is always some politics hanging in the air, pun intended. A fire captain or battalion chief sometimes decides he/she wants to be an AA officer because it looks good on his/her resume. Being an air attack instructor, Cal Fire would have me fly candidates before start time to see if they could handle the constant movement, change of direction, and steep turns. Some candidates change their minds. For five years, I was an AA instructor. Occasionally, candidates who shouldn’t be in the program are admitted. At times, I’ve had to fill in the gaps for backseaters who were lagging behind. Some AA officers start slow and become the finest I’ve ever flown with. They just need a little help now and then. One AA over a large fire in the Lake Tahoe area kept asking me, Raybo, Raybo, what do I do next? I advised him when he needed it, and he did a fantastic job. Not all AA pilots do that, but I made it my business to learn the backseater’s job. Being also an air attack instructor, It was easy for me to stabilize the situation.

I was on a 400-acre fire with about five other tankers, three or four contract helicopters, and a new AA officer in my backseat. An hour into the fire, I could tell he was getting in over his head, asking too many questions. At one point, I noticed he wasn’t directing tankers anymore…silence. Through the intercom I said to him, “Hey, you ok?” All I heard was, in a soft voice, “I can’t do this.” I said to him, “Okay, relax, I have it. Do you need to rest, or do you want me to call for a relief air attack? “I can’t do it” is all I heard. I called for a relief AA, and knowing that it could take 45 minutes to an hour, I took over, kept the flow going, and kept everything under control until the relief arrived. Some never get it.

Fires in California are divided into state or federal (fed) fires. Fighting a fire on state land is very different than working on fed land.

California Fires

I would say that around 95% of all fires in California are kept to less than 5 acres. We get a call; we are airborne in less than 5 minutes in most bases. We put the fire out and fly home. A California Highway Patrol helicopter will sometimes stumble upon a fire. When we arrive, we thank them and send them on their way. Sometimes they get somewhat possessive of the fire they discovered and refuse to leave. I told one CHP chopper that I couldn’t bring in the tankers or the helicopters until he left, or he could take an orbit well above the fire and observe. He left. I understand that. Vegetation fires, or wildland fires, are the closest thing to military aerial combat a civilian pilot will ever get. It’s addicting.

Fed Fires

Fires on federal land are different. You deal with either the US Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). For fires on fed land, Cal Fire is only obligated to conduct what we call initial attack. Reach the scene, stabilize the fire, advise the Feds on what they need in the coming days, and leave it to them.

They have a whole different philosophy. They are not fire fighters. They are fire managers. They will admit to that. They get to a fire and think whether should put it out or just let it burn. And there lies a problem: different priorities.

Sometimes problems occur when we have multiple jurisdictions or responsibilities, like we are seeing in Los Angeles. The LAFD may choose to not call Cal Fire, especially significant where time is critical. In Southern California, you have the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), LA County, San Diego County, Riverside, etc. Some fire departments think they can handle anything. The great Oakland Firestorm of 1991 is an example. It was the greatest urban fire at that time for life and property loss. A small fire was ‘put out’ but left unattended. It rekindled and the rest is history. Cal Fire came in much later when Oakland had to call for help.

One morning, we received an early call to respond to a 75-acre fed fire. We arrived with 3 tankers, established communication, and began dropping retardant on the fire. After several drops, the IC released us back to base. The air attack officer explained to him that we were not quite finished. A few more drops would put it to bed. He disagreed and insisted that we leave. Why? That fire became the Star Fire, which burned thousands of acres and took several weeks to put out.

Another incident I remember well was a 700-acre fire on fed land. The Forest Service people were already on it when we arrived. That means it was getting out of control, and they decided to get help from the state. Cal Fire engines and ground crews arrived a short time after we arrived. We divide fires into flanks, left and right, the head, the base, the shoulders, etc. They are described as slow, moderate, or rapid spread—slope- or wind-driven. I watched as the right flank was being fought by Cal Fire and the left flank by fed crews. The right flank was being put out by what is called a mobile attack. That is, a fire engine(s) drives along the line of fire with a firefighter walking ahead of the engine with a hose blasting the line of fire, putting it out. Sometimes we use a bulldozer that scrapes the ground. Very effective.

The fed left flank looked very busy with people running to and fro with no fire being put out. The next day, the Cal Fire battalion chief on the fire said to me, “Can you believe they had tents set up, a kitchen ready to go, and an IC telling me how we were going to fight the fire in the next few days? I told him we’re going to put this fire out this afternoon and go home.”

And that is the Fed way. Manage the fire, and when you can’t manage it, then get help. The only thing we can figure is that they must get hazard duty pay and overtime, leaving very little desire to put the fire out. Many fires have gotten out of control by milking them.

The fires in Southern California are fierce. The land is dry, sometimes not having rain for 8 months or more. A relative humidity of less than 25% or in the teens is especially dangerous. Deep canyons and multi-million dollar homes pepper the area, which typically experiences strong winds like the infamous Santa Ana winds. Unfortunately, when the winds get to a certain level, usually 30 mph. or so, the air show is over. You can’t drop retardant in high wind. It goes everywhere except the intended target, and it is extremely dangerous to the pilots having to control their aircraft at low altitude.

One fire I will never forget was in Southern California. It was a huge Santa Ana wind fire with thousands of homes burned to the ground. While in a group of pilots waiting to check into a hotel in the evening, a woman from an evacuated family approached me to inquire about the status of her house on a specific road. I explained to her with compassion that I had no way of knowing. She thanked me for my service and walked slowly away. That’s what it’s about—people.

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