Los Angeles County's aerial firefighters are proud of the skill that lets them pinpoint water and flame-retardant drops after the sun goes down. Now they want the U.S. Forest Service to let them show what they can do.
The Forest Service agreed on Tuesday to review its longstanding rule against aerial drops after dark above National Forest Service land. The rule is intended to keep firefighters safe and reduce the chance of an accident that could actually make matters worse, often deep inside national forests.
But the agency budged at least a little because of formal requests from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
The county's aerial firefighters regularly do their job after dark, most recently and dramatically in late August when an evening blaze threatened million dollar homes on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. That blaze was out in a few hours.
One month later, when the massive, 250-square mile Station Fire killed two firefighters and destroyed 89 homes, mostly near Glendale, county firefighters said they could have done more to stop the blaze if they had been allowed to fly after dark above National Forest Service land near L.A. County's foothill communities. The county's formal review of the Station Fire said as much.
The Forest Service, which has reviewed the Station Fire, disputes the notion that aerial drops would have made a difference. But the agency agreed to review its practices anyway, apparently out of respect for its local counterparts.
An official from the county called that initial decision "welcomed news."
