Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
San Diego Union-Tribune
October 27, 2007 Winds, bureaucracy delayed military aid
By Michael Gardner, Copley News Service
Ordering aerial reinforcements to fight fires is not as easy as picking up the phone and dialing 911.
Time-consuming and complex steps must be followed – apparently even in the middle of a life-or-death firefight.
For example, protocol requires giving the California National Guard 24 hours of lead time to get firefighting aircraft off the ground.
Wildfires never wait that long.
And requesting assistance from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing based at Miramar – a point of controversy this week – involves going through the U.S. Forest Service in Boise, Idaho, in addition to the normal military channels, state officials said.
But state officials yesterday said they had deployed 25 air tankers and helicopters to Southern California on Sunday, adding to the weekend buildup of engines and crews in anticipation of fires. Quickly, the Santa Ana winds forced some aircraft to sit idle while entire neighborhoods went up in smoke.
A handful of political leaders have issued stinging attacks that the state and federal government were ill-prepared and missed brief windows when aircraft could fly.
“We welcome the opportunity to do a detailed review after the fire is out,” said Ruben Grijalva, director of Cal Fire, the state's fire agency. “We call it lessons learned. ... What we did wrong and what we could do better.”
State officials said that calling for backup can be cumbersome.
The Marine Corps is not part of an automatic wildfire response team because that would require extensive training to fight blazes at a time when pilots must be committed to missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, Grijalva said.
That means the state has to go through other channels, such as the U.S. Forest Service, to find reinforcements, he said.
By contrast, California has a special agreement with the Navy Reserve for speedy mutual aid. As a result, some Navy choppers quickly joined the fight.
“We would welcome the opportunity to have an agreement with (the Marines) like we have with the Navy Reserve,” Grijalva said.
But the state has acknowledged critics' contention that a shortage of available fire spotters was at least partially responsible for the Marine choppers being grounded. Under state rules, each firefighting helicopter must have a Cal Fire spotter onboard.
U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, argued this week that the Marine crews were capable of flying firefighting missions without a spotter for each craft. An outspoken critic of the state's response, Hunter was not available for comment yesterday.
Late Tuesday, as the fires raged for a third day, Hunter and others hammered out an agreement that allowed one spotter to be used for a squadron of three helicopters.
Spotters also are required for state and National Guard aircraft.
“A spotter is like an air traffic controller. Without it, it would be like landing planes at LAX without talking to the tower,” said Aaron McLear, a spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
This week's firefight was further complicated by California's own bureaucracy, preventing crew chiefs in the field from bypassing some steps to call in accelerated air attacks by the National Guard.
Under the protocol, the local ground commander first must request help at the local level. If those efforts fail to make progress in beating back the blaze, one of six regional commands are brought in. If that's still not enough, it's up to the state Office of Emergency Services.
On Sunday afternoon, the fires charging across Southern California grew out of control and state OES officials began the process of calling in the California National Guard.
Scott Watson, a Cal Fire battalion chief, filed a “red-high” plea for four helicopters that also had space to ferry firefighters.
The “mission request” was sent to the National Guard at 4:33 p.m. Sunday with a “needed by date” of Monday at 4:31 p.m. because of the 24-hour protocol.
The longer notice is standard operating procedure because of the part-time nature of the National Guard – crews have to be called in and provided eight hours of rest before being cleared to fly.
“They are not firefighters. They're soldiers,” said William Wade, adjunct general of the California National Guard.
Also, aircraft must be equipped with special radios and connected to water-carrying tanks – all time-consuming. And then state spotters have to be brought on board.
National Guard officials also pointed out that on weekdays teams are usually already on hand and can be ready to fly much more quickly.
Logs show that three helicopters were fully staffed and ready to fly by 11:37 a.m. Monday. That beat the 24-hour schedule by nearly five hours – though 19 hours had already been lost to fires.
Then, just as the crews were ready to take off, high winds kept planes on the ground.
“Mother Nature trumped our best efforts,” Wade said.
October 27, 2007 Winds, bureaucracy delayed military aid
By Michael Gardner, Copley News Service
Ordering aerial reinforcements to fight fires is not as easy as picking up the phone and dialing 911.
Time-consuming and complex steps must be followed – apparently even in the middle of a life-or-death firefight.
For example, protocol requires giving the California National Guard 24 hours of lead time to get firefighting aircraft off the ground.
Wildfires never wait that long.
And requesting assistance from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing based at Miramar – a point of controversy this week – involves going through the U.S. Forest Service in Boise, Idaho, in addition to the normal military channels, state officials said.
But state officials yesterday said they had deployed 25 air tankers and helicopters to Southern California on Sunday, adding to the weekend buildup of engines and crews in anticipation of fires. Quickly, the Santa Ana winds forced some aircraft to sit idle while entire neighborhoods went up in smoke.
A handful of political leaders have issued stinging attacks that the state and federal government were ill-prepared and missed brief windows when aircraft could fly.
“We welcome the opportunity to do a detailed review after the fire is out,” said Ruben Grijalva, director of Cal Fire, the state's fire agency. “We call it lessons learned. ... What we did wrong and what we could do better.”
State officials said that calling for backup can be cumbersome.
The Marine Corps is not part of an automatic wildfire response team because that would require extensive training to fight blazes at a time when pilots must be committed to missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, Grijalva said.
That means the state has to go through other channels, such as the U.S. Forest Service, to find reinforcements, he said.
By contrast, California has a special agreement with the Navy Reserve for speedy mutual aid. As a result, some Navy choppers quickly joined the fight.
“We would welcome the opportunity to have an agreement with (the Marines) like we have with the Navy Reserve,” Grijalva said.
But the state has acknowledged critics' contention that a shortage of available fire spotters was at least partially responsible for the Marine choppers being grounded. Under state rules, each firefighting helicopter must have a Cal Fire spotter onboard.
U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, argued this week that the Marine crews were capable of flying firefighting missions without a spotter for each craft. An outspoken critic of the state's response, Hunter was not available for comment yesterday.
Late Tuesday, as the fires raged for a third day, Hunter and others hammered out an agreement that allowed one spotter to be used for a squadron of three helicopters.
Spotters also are required for state and National Guard aircraft.
“A spotter is like an air traffic controller. Without it, it would be like landing planes at LAX without talking to the tower,” said Aaron McLear, a spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
This week's firefight was further complicated by California's own bureaucracy, preventing crew chiefs in the field from bypassing some steps to call in accelerated air attacks by the National Guard.
Under the protocol, the local ground commander first must request help at the local level. If those efforts fail to make progress in beating back the blaze, one of six regional commands are brought in. If that's still not enough, it's up to the state Office of Emergency Services.
On Sunday afternoon, the fires charging across Southern California grew out of control and state OES officials began the process of calling in the California National Guard.
Scott Watson, a Cal Fire battalion chief, filed a “red-high” plea for four helicopters that also had space to ferry firefighters.
The “mission request” was sent to the National Guard at 4:33 p.m. Sunday with a “needed by date” of Monday at 4:31 p.m. because of the 24-hour protocol.
The longer notice is standard operating procedure because of the part-time nature of the National Guard – crews have to be called in and provided eight hours of rest before being cleared to fly.
“They are not firefighters. They're soldiers,” said William Wade, adjunct general of the California National Guard.
Also, aircraft must be equipped with special radios and connected to water-carrying tanks – all time-consuming. And then state spotters have to be brought on board.
National Guard officials also pointed out that on weekdays teams are usually already on hand and can be ready to fly much more quickly.
Logs show that three helicopters were fully staffed and ready to fly by 11:37 a.m. Monday. That beat the 24-hour schedule by nearly five hours – though 19 hours had already been lost to fires.
Then, just as the crews were ready to take off, high winds kept planes on the ground.
“Mother Nature trumped our best efforts,” Wade said.