Sheriff's Team and CalFire Work Together in the Heli Attack

When sirens sound, smoke fills the air and a blue-and-white helicopter starts to circle, some residents in San Diego county may not realize that it's the Sheriff's Heli Attack up there, even though a CalFire crew is on board.

"A lot of people don't know that," CalFire Battalion Chief Ray Chaney told Ramona Patch recently. Chaney is head of air operations at Ramona Air Attack Base.

He said CalFire has a cooperative agreement with local law enforcement to help provide service. It was established after the 2003 Cedar Fire.

"We're very proud of that because we feel it's an excellent example of good government to serve the tax payer," Chaney said. "We bring two agencies together and make it efficient instead of duplicating efforts."

The Sheriff's Heli Attack is based at Gillespie Field. When a unit is called out, an aviation fuel truck is dispatched with it, said Sean Medley who drove the truck to Santa Ysabel Tuesday. It was stationed at the intersection of highways 78 and 79. He said the helicopters have two hours of fuel on board and he can get anywhere to reach them in that time.