LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A Los Angeles City Council committee recommended the acquisition of a seventh fire department helicopter to stave off a recurrence of a recent situation, when the LAFD had to fight two fires simultaneously with half its fleet grounded.
Councilman Mike Bonin co-introduced a motion asking for a report from the General Services Division on the state of the helicopter fleet after only three of the LAFD’s six helicopters were available when brush fires broke out in Mandeville Canyon and Sylmar on May 28. No property was damaged as a result of the blazes, but Bonin said he was “disturbed” by the depleted state of the LAFD’s fleet that day.
The fleet has only been at 50 percent capacity 9 percent of the time this year, according to the verbal report.
I remain concerned at the pace at which we are repairing the LAFD equipment,” Bonin said.