LOS ANGELES – California is pressuring the Bush administration to deliver on its promise to outfit two massive National Guard cargo planes for firefighting duty by July, warning Thursday that residents face another season of wildfire danger.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said delays in outfitting the huge C-130 aircraft were “unacceptable.”
“Mr. President, help us,” Feinstein said in a letter to President Bush. Without the firefighting planes, the government will be “severely underprepared for the coming wildfire season.”
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in a recent letter to the White House, said the planes were “a critical resource in fighting wildfires that California cannot do without.”
Another year without the planes “would be reckless,” the governor told Bush.
Last year's wind-driven wildfires charred about 800 square miles, killed 10 people and destroyed nearly 2,200 homes from north of Los Angeles south to the Mexican border.
The Associated Press disclosed in October that despite repeated assurances, the California Air National Guard's two C-130 cargo planes were never outfitted with tanks needed to carry thousands of gallons of fire retardant. The situation meant that rather than deploying C-130s from inside the state, Schwarzenegger was forced during last year's fires to ask Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to call in the six remaining older C-130s from other states as far away as North Carolina.
After the devastating fires last year, the Bush administration told state officials the planes would be outfitted with the gear no later than July. But Feinstein said neither plane would be available for the 2008 fire season.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey said complex engineering and electrical issues needed to be resolved to fit the planes with the firefighting gear. They could be ready by September if test flights this summer are successful, he said.
In any case, enough firefighting aircraft will be available to protect the public and property, he said. Large tankers can be brought in quickly from other states, if needed.
If fires break out, “We have plenty of civilian aircraft to bring into the fight,” Rey said.
