At its March 22 meeting, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors approved a request from the county fire department to purchase a dip-tank and a tilt-trailer to move it.

Battalion Chief Robert Fish wrote in the justification to the board, “This will significantly improve response times for helicopter firefighting operations by reducing turn-around time for water drop and refill. This will improve County Fire’s ability to stop wildfire and property damage in the Mountain Community region.”

Together the dip-tank and trailer will cost about $67,000. The account for former Community Service Area (CSA) 38 (Pine Cove) will be the source of the funding.

County Fire Chief Bill Weiser explained that a new dip-tank will be necessary as Cal Fire begins using larger helicopters with firefighting capability. Another Sikorsky Type 1 Firehawk, also known as a Skycrane, will be available this summer. Last summer, the department deployed its first Firehawk. These aircraft are much faster and can carry much more water and fuel than Cal Fire’s older Huey helicopters.

The existing temporary tank, set-up each spring on Pine Cove Water District land in Dutch Flats, has neither the capacity nor the physical durability to supply these new Type 1s, according to Weiser.

“The rotor wash is strong; the existing tank wouldn’t hold up,” Weiss said. The aircraft has a snorkel facility that pumps water from the tank through its hose.

The new tank’s capacity is 7,000 gallons and each Type 1 helitank can hold 1,000 gallons. This new tank also has the capability to be connected to a fire hydrant. Then it can automatically initiate refills, which eliminate the need for an engine company or water tender to be on-site to prepare the tanks for refills.

“This will make a difference for our large modern aircraft,” Weiser stated. “We already have the new powerful helicopters.”

In the future, when Cal Fire transitions to night flying, the new tank will become even more important to fighting fires on the mountain.

And as he finished describing the new equipment, Weiser acknowledged CSA 38’s longstanding and valuable contributions to mountain and firefighter safety.

The item was passed 5-0 as part of the supervisors’ consent calendar and no discussion of the topic occurred.