The San Bernardino National Forest held an opening ceremony for their new helibase at Keenwild earlier this month. The seven-member crew works with Helicopter 535, a Bell 407, at these new facilities in southern California near Idyllwild.
Below is an excerpt from an article in the Press Enterprise. The USFS sent us these photos, and we were told that the photo credit should go to John Miller.
Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs; San Bernardino National Forest Supervisor Jeanne Wade Evans and Idyllwild District Ranger Laurie Rosenthal were among event speakers but they referred to the “gray beards” in the crowd as those who knew the history of the base, which opened in 1963.
Bono Mack credited Norm Walker as the “squeaky wheel” who shared information about the facilities need and answered questions that came up. Walker was the forest’s Idyllwild district fire chief before he retired, and is now interim chief of a community fire district in Idyllwild.
In the beginning, there was a makeshift helicopter landing pad down a single-lane access road near the Keenwild fire station. As Rosenthal told the story, in the 1970s the crew used the dismantled remains of the old Ranger Peak fire lookout to build the 560-square-foot office that was moved uphill in 1974.
Lack of funds forced based closure, but six years later it reopened in 2001 with the showing that the base was a firefighting asset and a spot on a competitive capital projects list.
An initial $600,000 was set aside in 2007, and then Congresswoman Bono Mack assured that the remainder needed was part of an appropriations bill. Bono Mack said her job is “to make sure you have the resources to do your job best.”
The $1,024,000 project by CGO Construction Co. of Rancho Cucamonga began in June 2009. The work included reconstruction of the helipad and access road and the building, which includes an operations center, offices, a kitchen, restrooms and a locker room.
The crew moved back in last month from temporary quarters by the Cranston Ranger Station on Highway 74 east of Hemet.
Check out the helitack crew’s Facebook page.
Thanks John
