Sheriff’s helicopter pilot Dave Weldon has replayed the scene again and again. And he wonders: How could the worst blaze in California history have been prevented?
At 5:45 p.m. Saturday, Weldon and his partner spotted smoke as they flew toward Cleveland National Forest in search of a missing hunter. They radioed in an urgent request, “Send air support immediately,” they told the dispatcher – either a water-dropping helicopter or a tanker with a load of fire retardant. The request was denied by a U.S. Forest Service official.
The reason? It was almost sunset, and state/federal regulations require firefighting aircraft to land 30 minutes before sunset, which that night was 6:06 p.m. After dark, the risk of crashing increases. Weldon told his partner, Rocky Laws, to make another plea, this time to a sheriff’s helicopter en route to Balboa Park that was carrying a large water bucket.
That helicopter took off immediately.
But five minutes away from the fire, the pilot was ordered by a U.S. Forest Service official to turn back because the sun was going down.
Hmmmm. Thanks, guys.
