A Los Angeles City Council committee came up short today when seeking answers on how to prevent the fire department’s helicopter fleet, which recently had to fight two simultaneous brush fires with half of its airships grounded, from operating at a diminished capacity.
The Public Safety Committee heard from representatives of the Los
Angeles Fire Department and the General Services Division, but Councilman Mike
Bonin, who co-introduced the motion asking for a report on the state of the
helicopter fleet, did not like the answers he was getting.
“I really appreciate that everybody is trying to be polite and
collaborative. I’m not in the polite and collaborative mood on this issue,”
Bonin said. “When we are down that low, that freaks me out. This is for me —
and I know you all know this because it is for you, as well — but it’s a
matter of life and death.”