San Bernardino County fire district approves up to $450,000 for unmanned aircraft; supervisors award Glen Helen helitanker station contract

The San Bernardino County Fire Protection District will buy an unmanned electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and a training simulator for up to $450,000, after supervisors approved the purchase Oct. 6 while sitting as the district's board.

The same consent calendar awarded a $491,448 contract to build a permanent refill station for firefighting helitankers at Glen Helen Regional Park.

Both passed 5-0. Supervisor Curt Hagman moved the consent calendar and Supervisor Joe Baca Jr. seconded it, the records of action show.

Unmanned aircraft

The district is buying the aircraft from Pivotal, together with a training simulator and a loaned prototype to use while its own aircraft is being developed, according to the staff report from Fire Chief Dan Munsey. The district's Special Operations unit will use it.

Money comes from the district's Special Incident Reserve. The budget change needed four votes.

Pivotal held demonstrations in California with the district and other emergency agencies, the report says. Uses listed include quicker response, aerial scouting of incidents, carrying medical supplies and reaching people in remote terrain.

The report says Pivotal provides the aircraft's proprietary technology, including its software, support and training, and the county's purchasing office concurred with the district's justification for buying without competitive bids. An addendum makes the district's standard terms, including indemnification, insurance and termination for convenience, override Pivotal's own terms, the report says.

Helitanker station

The Glen Helen station will give firefighting helitankers their own water supply and fill point so they can reload in minutes and return to a fire sooner, according to the Department of Public Works – Special Districts.

It will be built on land now used for park overflow parking, with Glen Helen Parkway to the south and Glen Helen Road to the east.

Perry C. Thomas Construction Inc. of Monrovia won the contract as the low bidder among four bids received Sept. 14. The other bids ranged from $505,902 to $1,100,950.

That was not the first round of bidding. The county rejected a lone bid in April. A second round, advertised in June, drew three bids in August, but the county threw them all out after an unclear line on the bid list, an administrative error and a protest, and it advertised again the same day, the report says.

The total project budget is $684,250 from the county's Wildfire Prevention Reserve, routed through County Service Area 70. It covers construction, a $49,144 contingency, project management and inspections.

The report puts yearly operating and maintenance costs at $12,975. Construction is expected to start in fall 2026 and finish by summer 2027.