California´s wild land firefighting agency is considering grounding air tankers one day a week, closing two inmate fire camps and shutting fire stations as it plans for a nearly $7 million budget loss.
No decisions are expected until mid-May and officials are hoping none of the cuts will be needed. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection proposed closing two air tanker bases two years ago, but fierce opposition killed the plan.
As an alternative, the department is considering manning the tankers six days a week to save about $1 million.
Closing a fire camp would also save about $1 million, while mothballing fire engines would save about $275-thousand each.
This post was last modified on 01/31/2009 2:24 pm