Ray Chaney CAL FIRE Interview

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Battalian Chief Ray Chaney of CAL FIRE, Ramona Air Attack Base, spoke at an aerial firefighting conference in Orange County, California. Chief Chaney has fought some of California's biggest fires from the air. With funding and budgeting for firefighting in question, he is constantly on the road to gain support for aerial firefighting.

"One of the things that we're proud of in CAL FIRE is we feel that we are stewards of the taxpayer dollar. So we're always looking for the best cost benefit to the taxpayer. So it's going to be lean times. We know that. We need to think outside the box and how we can best serve our customer, the taxpayer, as well as support - from a tactical standpoint - the firefighters on the ground," Chief Chaney says.

Aircraft operations are costly. Chief Chaney emphasizes that air attacks are only as good as the ground attacks. He says that ground support has to be good before any money is spent on aerial resources. Agencies must also explore all resources to find the best tools and solutions for certain situations.

When asked about nighttime aerial firefighting, Chief Chaney states, "We're always looking outside the box...at other technology and resource capability. So we are in the infancy of nighttime aerial firefighting. So there's other agencies in Southern California that are very good at it, so we look at them as they being subject matter experts." When it comes to safety, he says that agencies must make sure that they have the right aviation assets to fly at night in less than perfect conditions.

Expansion of any new aerial firefighting techniques will go through a global study. Chief Chaney says that nighttime aerial firefighting capabilities are close to being finalized. He states that the funding is a large part of the future of the agency.


Author:Bill Lorin - FDNNTV.com