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Should the flames that continue to ravage parts of Southern California move into eastern Ventura County, ���ϲ����� stands ready to support local firefighters.

“Three years ago, we worked with the County to build a helispot on our California campus, where firefighting helicopters can fill up with water to dump on burn areas,” says Vice President for Operations Mark Kretschmer. “And with the completion of our energy independence project last year, even if utilities are forced to cut off the power, our pumps will still be able to provide the crews with all the water they can take.”

“Even if utilities are forced to cut off the power, our pumps will still be able to provide the crews with all the water they can take.”

In 2021, County and College officials installed the concrete helispot — designed to accommodate the needs of a Firehawk helicopter and its crew — in the hills along the southeastern corner of the campus. Running alongside the hillside, the College maintains a four-inch water line that connects to a 60,000-gallon storage tank, fed by two 100 gallon/minute spring-water pumps, enabling the Firehawks to refill their tanks quickly when battling blazes.

The operation depends, however, on a reliable source of electricity to pump water to the helispot. And for the last seven years — ever since a spark from a high-voltage power line ignited the devastating Thomas Fire of 2017 — Southern California Edison has preventatively had to cut off electricity to the area during dangerously high winds. Just last week, the utility shut off the electricity for some 60 hours, leaving many nearby customers without power.

Yet the College kept the lights on throughout the outage, thanks to the clean-energy plant it completed last year. The plant uses green microturbines to convert natural gas — which Carbon California donates, free of charge, from its neighboring oil field — into electricity for on-campus use and storage.

“The same energy plant that has allowed us to independently power the campus these last 14 months, thereby shielding us from outages on the state power grid, also powers our pumps 24-7,” says Mr. Kretschmer. “God willing, the County won’t need to use the helispot again any time soon, but if it does, the firefighters will have what they need.”

The College and Ventura County have a long history of working together to prevent and combat natural disasters. “We remember well how County firefighters helped save this campus during the Thomas Fire,” says Mr. Kretschmer. “And we were grateful to play our small part in their efforts to extinguish fires throughout the community by filling hundreds of firetrucks from our hydrants.” In a 2023 letter, Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner wrote, “���ϲ����� has always been a partner in the past with the use of the soccer field for temporary landing zones, but the addition of this permanent helispot has added consistency and better tactical advantage to refilling aerial firefighting aircraft quicker for wildland fire response.”

With the addition of the new energy plant, the College is now able to increase the aid it can offer to the courageous first responders who work to protect local families, homes, and businesses. “We are grateful that, through further innovation and our partnership with Carbon California, we can be of greater assistance,” says Mr. Kretschmer. “We are prepared to help in any way we can.”