SAN DIEGO, Aug. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- San Diego Gas
& Electric (SDG&E) today unveiled the latest additions to
its fire-preparedness toolkit for this year, which includes the
return of the Erickson Skycrane "Sun
Bird" for the seventh straight year. The helitanker, which
holds a maximum of 2,650 gallons of water or fire suppressant and
can get airborne in just 15 minutes, already helped knock down two
fast-moving brushfires just days after its arrival in San Diego on July
1.
"The Skycrane has been a critical asset over the past several
years and we're pleased to continue our collaboration with the
County of San Diego to make this
amazing aircraft available for our region once again," said
Caroline Winn, SDG&E's chief
energy delivery officer. "SDG&E is on a journey of continuous
improvement to help enhance our company's overall fire preparedness
and the safety of our communities. Recently, we developed a
wildfire risk reduction model that will help us make smart,
cost-effective decisions about infrastructure investments that can
have the greatest impact on safety."
"When it comes to facing down inevitable wildfires, San Diego County has never been in better
shape," said Ron Roberts, County
Board of Supervisors chairman.
"We have excellent working partnerships with public safety
agencies and the private sector – especially with SDG&E which
we have partnered with on new fire preparedness technologies and
with bringing a helitanker to town during the region's peak fire
season."
Recently, SDG&E and the County renewed their joint contract
that will ensure the Skycrane will be available through 2022 for
regional fire suppression.
"The helitanker is a significant and welcome addition to our
regional fire-fighting arsenal every year," said CAL FIRE Chief
Tony Mecham. "As we've seen already
this summer, the air crane's quick response and decisive attack
make a critical difference by stopping a wildfire before it has a
chance to spread. Having the helitanker close by and
available, if needed, provides an extra measure of insurance for
our community."
The Skycrane is stationed at SDG&E's Aviation Services
facility at Gillespie Field in El
Cajon and will stay through October this year – or longer,
if fire conditions warrant.
"This year, we're anticipating another year of higher fire
activity fueled by a more abundant grass crop than we've seen in
quite a while," said San Diego
Fire Chief Brian Fennessy. "Specific
areas of concern are the City of San
Diego's many open space islands, such as Mission Valley,
Tecolote, Penasquito, San Clemente
and Rose Canyons, but we expect to see very volatile wildland fire
conditions across the county this fall."
At the request of local fire agencies, SDG&E has added two
additional weather stations to its current network of more than 170
– one in Mission Valley and another in southern Orange County – to improve the situational
awareness during extreme fire-weather events in those
communities.
To develop the wildfire risk reduction model, SDG&E looked
at every component of its overhead electric system – not just power
lines and poles, but switches, fuses and cross-arms – taking into
account size and age as well as the potential associated loss and
replacement costs if a fire were to start. The model is based on
tens of millions of computer simulations of fire ignitions and how
they could spread based on various conditions. SDG&E is working
on translating the model for operational use by factoring in
weather conditions and fuel-moisture data to fine-tune the risk
forecast daily.
"Every year, for nearly a decade, we have been expanding our
toolkit, adding new technologies and bringing in new partners,"
said Winn. "Bottom line, though, the most significant, most
valuable and most consistent community resource we have is
collaboration."
SDG&E is an innovative San
Diego-based energy company that provides safe, reliable,
clean energy to better the lives of the people it serves in
San Diego and southern
Orange counties. More than 4,300
employees work to provide the most reliable and clean energy in the
West. The company has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency for leadership in addressing climate change, was
the first to meet California's
goal of delivering 33 percent of energy from renewable sources, has
fueled the adoption of electric vehicles and energy efficiency
through unique customer programs, and supports more than 600
non-profit partners. SDG&E is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy
(NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in
San Diego. For more information
visit sdge.com/newsroom or connect with SDG&E on Twitter
(@SDGE), Instagram (@SDGE) and Facebook.
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SOURCE San Diego Gas & Electric