By John Asbury
The Press Enterprise
HEMET, Calif. — Nearly three years ago, the state’s former fire chief arrived in Hemet to pledge $19 million in renovations to retrofit the aging Hemet-Ryan Airport’s fire air-attack base with modern equipment and to extend its runway.
The improvements promised by Cal Fire, the state’s lead firefighting agency, would make the circa-1957 airport capable of handling larger fire tankers such as the military-level MAFFS C-130 air tankers and supporting more personnel, improving the airport’s usefulness as a firefighting hub for much of the state.
But since the promises were made, the state budget’s massive deficit has crippled the plans. Improvements that were set to be completed by next year have not begun.
Cal Fire officials say the project remains the agency’s top priority in the state, once state funding is made available. There are no plans for the renovations in the next state budget.
“We’ve had to face tough decisions of keeping firefighters on engines and keeping aircraft up in the air in lieu of the remodel,” Cal Fire Battalion Chief Julie Hutchinson said. “We would love to get it done as soon as possible. It’s just not something we can do right now that would be fiscally responsible.”
The Hemet base remains fully operational and provides air attacks for fires throughout Riverside County, northern San Diego County and parts of Orange, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties. The fire base is home to one helicopter, one air-attack plane that coordinates resources and two air tankers. It can also host other aircraft during a major fire.
Critical need
While Cal Fire officials say firefighting efforts have not been hampered by the delays, local and state officials agree the improvements to the fire base are critical. The aging airport includes decades-old fire retardant tanks, a triple-wide trailer for firefighter barracks and aging airport ramps.
The proposed $19 million in improvements originally called for renovations to all of the base’s buildings and included replacing the statewide fleet of 11 helicopters.
Cal Fire Battalion Chief Travis Alexander, the air operations officer at Hemet-Ryan, said routine maintenance of the airport is in itself costly for such needs as repairing runway damage or replacing airplane propellers.
When the airport hosts up to a dozen aircraft during a major fire, no sleeping quarters are available for visiting firefighters, requiring the cost of outside hotels. The base also runs the risk of multiple airplanes getting damaged by bumping into each other on the cramped tarmac.
“Eventually we’re just patching patchwork. This airport is over 50 years old, and we’ve definitely outgrown the needs of the region versus the size of the facility,” Alexander said.
Despite the airport’s age, Riverside County supervisors and fire officials have lobbied since 2006 to keep and maintain the fire base in Hemet rather than relocate to March Air Reserve Base outside Moreno Valley.
Fire officials agreed Hemet is an ideal location, centered in the wildlands that have become susceptible in recent years to massive wildfires. The airport works in collaboration with other fire bases in Ramona in central San Diego County and the former Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino.
Cal Fire aims to respond to any wildfire by air within 20 minutes. The S-2 tankers, which each hold 1,200 gallons of fire retardant, can be filled in as little as 10 minutes, and the base has been known to pump 1 million gallons in one fire season. Hemet-Ryan has been used for fighting about seven major wildfires per year since 2001, Alexander said.
Hub for 2003 fires
It was a hub for aerial attacks on the 91,281-acre Old Fire in San Bernardino County in 2003. That arson blaze killed six people. Aircraft also responded to the Cedar Fire in San Diego in 2003, the largest wildfire in state history. It burned 273,246 acres and killed 15 people.
Officials say Hemet-Ryan was key in fighting the arson Esperanza Fire north of Hemet in 2006 that killed five firefighters and burned 40,200 acres.
Such events bumped the base to the top of the state’s list for firefighting capital improvements, Hutchinson said.
Once under way, officials estimate the project would take about two years to complete. Construction would not hamper any fire seasons in the process as had been previously thought, because a tenant on the northern side of the base left, providing temporary space for fire operations during construction, Hutchinson said.
“The base has proven that it can handle large and disastrous fires. We couldn’t do without it,” Hutchinson said. “The impact and age of Hemet-Ryan is what’s put it on the radar. ... This base has been here a long time. We want it go another 100 years.”
As state funds have been on hold, so have county dollars needed to extend the base’s existing 4,300-foot runway by 1,300 feet.
Riverside County Fire Chief John Hawkins said Cal Fire is working with Riverside County in a proposal to use Riverside County redevelopment funds to bypass some state delays to build the project through a lease purchase.
The property belongs to Riverside County, and Cal Fire would pay interest to own the buildings, Hawkins said. The county would need to secure about $25 million to complete the project, Hawkins said.
Cal Fire has proposed relocating the site to the northern end of the airport from its current site on the southern end. That would make the base easier to navigate for incoming pilots and open the southern site for the county to lease to a commercial occupant, Hawkins said.
Among the improvements needed are a new control tower and hangars to house the planes, which currently sit uncovered on runways.
Hawkins said he believes Riverside County and Cal Fire will come to an agreement to get the project started soon.
“We would be able to accommodate more aircraft at one time and extend the runway for bigger aircraft. In a fire when we’re trying to put the most mud on the ground and trying to get there as fast as we can, time is on the line,” Hawkins said. “This is the best use of taxpayer dollars to deliver fire protection at a low cost.”
Research being done
While improvements have been grounded, Cal Fire officials have been drawing plans and preparing to open the project to contractor bidding, Travis said. The Riverside County Economic Development Agency has offered to manage the project and is still conducting research to present a plan to the state and Cal Fire officials to seek funding.
The runway extension would allow military-level MAFFS C-130 air tankers to operate for the first time in the Inland region. The C-130s can be reloaded in San Bernardino. Currently, the MAFFS must be reloaded in the Channel Islands, Chico or Sacramento before flying back to attack a Southern California blaze. The larger tankers used to take off from Hemet, but the runway was deemed unsafe.
“This would permanently put a tanker base in place for this region,” Travis said. “As the concrete disintegrates, some will ask if we should move to another place. We’re at a time where these changes could still be made to make sure this stays in Hemet.”
Copyright 2010 The Press Enterprise, Inc.
All Rights Reserved