The Associated Press
DE LUZ, Calif. — Firefighters working in an empty field practiced calling in and refilling a fire-strike helicopter from a new 2,000-gallon water tender recently acquired by the De Luz Volunteer Fire Department.
Volunteers at Sunday’s drill were given a tutorial on how to hook the hose up to the water tank, which radio frequencies to use and how to direct the pilot to the target.
San Diego County purchased the $140,000 water tanker for the rural agency. The county is also set to deliver a new fire truck designed to handle both urban and rural fires, said De Luz Fire Captain Mike Manchor.
De Luz is unincorporated community near the Riverside County border. It is home to 1,600 people and 400 residences spread over 60 square miles.
Manchor said his existing trucks were bought used from other departments on a shoestring $23,000 annual budget. Among his 11-truck fleet is a 15-year-old ladder truck that was bought for $25,000 and an old “Type 4" mobile truck, purchased for $5,000 “and a box of avocados” from the Rancho Santa Fe Fire District, according to Manchor.
“They probably make a dollar go farther than any other agency,” said John Culea, a spokesman for Supervisor Bill Horn, whose district covers De Luz.