Firefighters Look to Firms To Help Fund Helicopter
San Diego’s emergency units are dispatched to every corner of the county for countless rescues and medical transport services.
This time the shoe is on the other foot, and one city emergency unit is making the call for help.
The San Diego Department of Fire and Life Safety Services, which operates the city’s fire department, paramedic and lifeguard services, is on a campaign to do something no other public agency has done in the United States. The department is working on a plan to fund and operate a fire-and-rescue helicopter. But they are looking to corporate America, not taxpayers, to foot the cost.
“Helicopters are a vital tool for fire suppression and water rescue,” said Mike Burner, the city’s deputy fire chief. “San Diego is one of few California metropolitan areas without an aerial support program. Both Los Angeles and Orange counties utilize fire/rescue helicopters daily as part of their public safety service.”
The helicopters used in the city and county of Los Angeles are included in each department’s budget. San Diego, however, has not allocated the funds needed to operate an aerial unit on a contract basis , estimated to cost $1.6 million a year.
Mary Braunwarth, development director for the city manager’s office, said the city recognizes the importance of the project, but a new proposal would take some time to get budgeted.
“There are a lot of competing needs with the city,” Braunwarth said. “A lot of times it takes that champion on the council to recognize the need and (bring other council members on board).”
Braunwarth, who is in charge of seeking marketing partnerships with corporate sponsors for the city, said some companies have shown interest in supporting the project, but no commitments have been made.
“It’s a very high price tag for one corporate sponsor to underwrite the program,” she said. “We’re looking for ways to carve up funding by working with the city, corporate sponsorships and a combination of grants and donations.”
Project officials are in discussion with the San Diego Foundation to set up a fund making the foundation the fiscal receiver of any money donated for the helicopter.
According to Brian Fennessy, the city’s fire and life safety service’s air operations coordinator, the project has been under watchful eyes since the plan was unveiled.
He said they have been inundated with calls from agencies and officials from around the country seeking a progress report on the project. He said there have been questions wondering if a public/private partnership like this would work.
According to Fennessy, it could. This isn’t the first time the fire agency has stepped out to do something different and unexpected. Several years ago, the agency formed a public/private business venture with Rural Metro to win and operate the city’s paramedic services contract.
“People said it wouldn’t work and we’re five years into it,” Fennessy said.
Success Down Under
Braunwarth and Fennessy found one project that has worked for public agencies using private dollars, but they had to look far from home. For the past 17 years, a similar plan has been successful in New Zealand and Australia.
In fact, that project, funded by Westpac Trust bank, is considered a study guide for the San Diego proposal.
“We’re in constant communication with the New Zealand fire department to find out how they did their project, and how they were able to convince people to fund their project,” Braunwarth said.
A fire/rescue helicopter in San Diego would be based at Montgomery Field in Kearny Mesa. It would also be used by city lifeguards and would provide major exposure for any sponsor.
The “title” sponsor’s name would be posted on the helicopter, and the chopper’s logo could be used in the sponsor’s marketing campaign. The sponsor’s logo would be visible at numerous community events as well on news coverage of rescue efforts.
The summer months are routinely busy for area fire departments due to the city’s topographical nature, which is filled with canyons, cliffs and waterways, as well as the dense population in those areas.
Averting Disaster
The problem is, San Diego fire crews are unable to reach every corner and cove of the county with the resources in place.
“We lost two or three homes in City Heights on a half-acre fire,” Fennessy said. “We just can’t get engines to the right locations. It’s unacceptable to be losing homes in these small fires in the inner city.”
A larger disaster that may have been prevented if an aerial unit was available was the Normal Heights fire in 1985, Fennessy said. Sixty-seven homes were lost in that blaze.
“The need was recognized then,” he said. “If we had aerial resources to stop that fire from becoming a large fire, maybe we could have saved those houses. We don’t want to lose a lot of structures in order to meet this goal.”
Right now, San Diego depends upon the California Department of Forestry for aerial fire support and water drops. Lifeguards look to other agencies like the Sheriff’s Department’s helicopter and to the U.S. Coast Guard.
“Unfortunately, when you depend on someone else’s equipment, you are not the top priority,” Deputy Chief Burner said. “It’s the luck of the draw. You hope you have a helicopter there when you need one, and in a fire or rescue every minute counts. A helicopter will improve our capabilities and citizens will benefit.”
