Cal Fire grounds a few planes briefly
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection was briefly forced to ground 14 of its tactical aircraft that help guide air tankers and helicopters Monday afternoon after one of the planes had a problem with its propeller, officials said.
Cal Fire ordered its fleet of 14 OV-10 A Broncos to stay on the ground after a piece of a propeller came off while one of the planes was warming up at an airfield in Paso Robles (San Luis Obispo County), said Daniel Berlant, an agency spokesman.
The OV-10 is a tactical coordination plane, Berlant said, used to direct larger air tankers and helicopters making water drops and retardant dumps over wildfires.
Berlant said that the loss of the OV-10s on Monday didn‘t impact any critical incidents, but with more than 13,000 firefighters battling 19 wildfires across the state and California suffering through a prolonged drought, a new fire can be just one spark away.