Texas’ top emergency manager told a panel of lawmakers that the state should establish a firefighting aircraft division after a series of wildfires, including…
The chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management suggests Texas build a firefighting air force with up to six aircraft, costing at least $50 millionTexas’ top emergency manager told a panel of lawmakers that the state should establish a firefighting aircraft division after a series of wildfires, including the largest in state history, scorched the Panhandle region this year.
Pampa, a town of about 16,000 in Gray County about an hour northeast of Amarillo, is closer to Oklahoma than the Texas Capitol. Lawmakers decided to hold the hearings there to make it easier for victims of the fire to attend.“This is not a Panhandle problem. This will have statewide effects,” Republican Rep. Ken King, the committee’s chair, told the mixed crowd of suits and cowboy hats. “We must do what we can to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
For days, ranchers and residents could only look to the sky and wonder where firefighting aircraft were as they watched the historic Smokehouse Creek fire rip across their land. Without a fleet of aircraft to fight fires, Texas relies on a series of contractors. Many of the planes were being serviced at the time the fires started in late February.
“It won’t be an easy venture to start with, and we will have to continue with contracts while this is built up and people are trained. It will take some time, ” Kidd said. The average cost of a firefighting helicopter is $1 to 2 million depending on the type, but once equipment is added the price can reach up to $40 million each.
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