In light of a debate between the Orange County Fire Authority and Sheriff’s Department over which should be the lead agency on search-and-rescue calls, a grand jury report released Friday called on the county to create a permanent “air operations safety council.” The report also called on the two agencies to work together, with the sheriff’s department being the lead response agency to wilderness or remote off-road search-and-rescue calls, and the OCFA taking the lead on urban search-and-rescue calls.
Officials from both agencies issued a response insisting that they “are working collaboratively to provide a dual-agency response to search-and-rescue calls.”
The OCFA and sheriff’s department have occasionally found themselves at loggerheads over the past year over search-and-rescue events, with both at times dispatching helicopters to scenes and arguments erupting among the responders over which is the lead agency.