About the Writer: Karen Pearlman
Karen Pearlman is a longtime San Diego journalist and associate editor at East County Magazine, where she covers local news, government, community issues and feature stories.
Karen Pearlman • July 21, 2026
Ramona Air Attack Base reopens with new aircraft, faster wildfire response
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By Karen Pearlman, East County Magazine
July 20, 2026 (Ramona) — San Diego County’s aerial firefighting capabilities have been boosted with the reopening of the modernized Ramona Air Attack Base, where state and local officials on Monday morning unveiled nearly $20 million in upgrades designed to get aircraft back into the air faster and expand around-the-clock wildfire response.
The renovated base at 2498 Montecito Road now houses a new 4,000-gallon CAL FIRE C-130 Hercules air tanker, a night-capable S-70 CAL FIRE Hawk Helicopter, two S-2 air tankers and an OV-10 Air Tactical aircraft.
The group of aircraft is creating what officials called one of California’s most advanced aerial firefighting hubs.
The base’s aging infrastructure has been replaced with a modern retardant mixing plant capable of storing 20,000 gallons of fire retardant, redesigned aircraft loading bays that dramatically reduce turnaround times, and expanded ramp space to accommodate additional air tankers during major wildfire incidents.
“This base is a regional asset,” CAL FIRE/San Diego County Fire Chief Tony Mecham said at a press conference that was livestreamed on YouTube. “When there is smoke in the sky, the citizens don’t care what color the fire engine is or what patch is on the uniform. They just want people to show up quickly.”
The improvements come as California faces increasingly destructive wildfire seasons fueled by hotter temperatures, prolonged drought and more extreme weather conditions.
CAL FIRE Director and Fire Chief Joe Tyler said the Ramona facility reflects years of investment in modernizing California’s aerial firefighting fleet.
Over the past two years, CAL FIRE aircraft have flown more than 11,500 flight hours annually while maintenance crews logged more than 90,000 hours keeping aircraft mission-ready, Tyler said.
Among the most significant additions is the C-130 Hercules air tanker, capable of dropping 4,000 gallons of fire retardant — more than three times the capacity of CAL FIRE’s traditional S-2 air tankers. The aircraft is part of the state’s new fleet of converted military transport planes that entered service beginning in 2024.
Also based in Ramona is the county’s new S-70 Firehawk helicopter, which can perform water drops after dark — a capability officials said is already proving invaluable. It has an integrated 1,000-gallon water tank with hoist rescue capability and the ability to transport helicopter crews into remote terrain.
San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson-Remer pointed to last week’s Thorn Fire, where the Firehawk flew nighttime suppression missions that slowed the fire’s progression and helped prevent flare-ups the following morning.
“Our days are getting hotter, our nights are getting warmer, the winds are stronger and fuels are drier,” Lawson-Remer said. “Wildfire does not stop when the sun goes down.”
She urged residents to prepare for wildfire emergencies by signing up for emergency alerts, planning evacuation routes and heeding evacuation orders when issued.
For East County backcountry communities, the upgrades could mean quicker aerial response to fires threatening homes. Aircraft assigned to Ramona regularly respond throughout the county.
Mecham twice shared the importance of coordinated and consolidated efforts between firefighting agencies across the county.
“We fight fire without boundaries and without egos,” he said.
Mecham said the modernization project focused on improving efficiency as much as expanding capabilities.
Previously, air tankers were forced to maneuver awkwardly into a single retardant loading area, creating backups during major wildfire incidents. The redesigned facility features three drive-through loading pits that allow aircraft to taxi in, reload and immediately return to the fire.
“The S-2s can reload in about two to three minutes,” Mecham said. “The C-130, under 10 minutes, it’s on the ground here at Ramona before it’s back in the sky responding to the next fire.”
The expanded ramp now allows up to six air tankers to stage simultaneously. During last week’s Thorn Fire, officials said 11 air tankers were assigned to the incident, underscoring the need for increased loading capacity.
Additional improvements are in the planning stages. Construction is expected to begin next year on a 14-person barracks to support future 24-hour operations, along with further expansion of the helicopter facilities.
Monday’s ceremony also highlighted the historical significance of the Ramona Air Attack Base, which opened in 1957 as CAL FIRE’s first aviation base. While the facility received new buildings in 2000, much of its underground infrastructure — including water lines, electrical systems and retardant delivery equipment — had remained unchanged until the recent reconstruction.
San Diego County Supervisor Joel Anderson, who lives in the fire-prone area of Alpine, thanked leaders for their understanding of the importance of the Ramona airport site… “not just in San Diego County but for Southern California in general.”
“CAL FIRE has been an essential partner for the County Fire, providing joint fire protection in emergency services for more than 1.7 million acres,” Anderson said. “Since CAL FIRE’s creation in 2008, the Board of Supervisors have invested over a billion dollars into fire protection in emergency medical services.
“In the years since we created County Fire, we have also expanded our partnership in collaborations. In 2022, CAL FIRE successfully collaborated with the Ramona Municipal Water District to establish the Ramona Airport as a hub for aerial firefighting teams, in addition to replacing fire engines and adding a third ambulance, which was so important to the backcountry and to all my constituents.”
Learn More About Borrego Springs
Borrego Springs Yacht Club Brings Model Sailboat Racing to Rams Hill Borrego Springs is home to an unusual desert pastime: model yacht racing. The Borrego Springs Yacht Club was founded in 2010 by Steve Luckman and Dennis Daoust. The club has grown to about 40 members and operates at a pond on the former nine-hole golf course at Rams Hill. Members race V32 sailboats, 32-inch non-motorized model boats controlled remotely through their sails and rudders. The boats were manufactured in California for decades but are no longer in production. Races typically draw 16 to 20 boats, with courses marked by duck decoys used as buoys. The racing season runs from November through May, although members can practice throughout the year. Six club events are held during the season, including Opening Day in November, the Pacific Cap in January, the Invitational in February, the Misplace Race in March, the Powder Puff in April and the Tequila Bowl in May. Winners receive trophies that are held until the next event. The club also maintains a palapa-style clubhouse and hillside seating overlooking the pond, providing space for members and spectators during race days. Membership was listed at $250 per year. The Borrego Springs Yacht Club offers a distinctive local version of sailing, combining competition, model boat craftsmanship and community activity in the desert. If you have any interest, contact Dennis Daoust at captain-havoc@earthlink.net .
The great free movies continue in October, with a French psychological thriller – Les Diaboliques, and Emma Stone in her Oscar winning performance – Poor Things. All screenings are held on Wednesday evenings at 7pm at the Borrego Springs Performing Arts Center, 590 Palm Canyon Drive, Borrego Springs, CA 92004 . Our full schedule for 2026 is posted on the BSFI website: www.borregospringsfilminstitute.org . Please check the website for the most up to date information. Here are the movies coming in October: Wednesday, October 7, 2026 at 7pm – Les Diaboliques – 1955 – Not Rated – 1h 47m Les Diaboliques , released in the United States simply as Diabolique , is a landmark of psychological suspense and one of the most influential thrillers in the history of cinema. A French psychological horror thriller co-written and directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, it stars Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse, and Charles Vanel, and is based on the 1952 novel Celle qui n'était plus by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. Set in a decrepit French boarding school for boys, the film follows the wife (Véra Clouzot) and mistress (Signoret) of a sadistic, irredeemably cruel headmaster (Meurisse), who conspire to murder him and disguise his death as an accidental drowning. When his body vanishes from the school swimming pool, however, and a ragtag detective (Vanel) begins poking around, the two women start experiencing chilling evidence that their tormentor may not be dead after all. Clouzot had optioned the rights to the source novel immediately after finishing The Wages of Fear (1953), reading it through the night and securing the rights the next morning — in doing so, narrowly preventing Alfred Hitchcock from acquiring them. Les Diaboliques went on to have an enormous influence on Hitchcock and directly inspired his horror-classic, Psycho (1960). The film premiered in Paris in January 1955, where it ran exclusively for seventeen weeks, and in the United States its press screening was held on Halloween 1955. Critically, the film was a sensation, earning the reputation that has followed it ever since: the Criterion Collection describes it as "a heart-grabbing benchmark in horror filmmaking," calling it "an almost perfect movie about a very nearly perfect murder," and the National Board of Review named it among the best foreign films of 1955, calling it "a genuine thriller — a shocking, satisfying chunk of Grand Guignol psychological suspense." The film earned Clouzot the enduring sobriquet of "the French Hitchcock," though many have argued, with considerable justification, that the comparison undersells him. In French with English subtitles. Wednesday, October 21, 2026 at 7pm – Poor Things – 2023 – Rated R – 2h 21m Poor Things is a wildly inventive, exhilaratingly strange, and visually ravishing work of absurdist cinema that stands as one of the defining films of recent years. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and written by Tony McNamara, based on the 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray, the film is an Ireland-UK-US co-production starring Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott, and Jerrod Carmichael. The story follows Bella Baxter (Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Dafoe), who, hungry for the worldliness she lacks, runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Ruffalo), a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents, growing ever more steadfast in her determination to stand for equality and liberation. The film is a Frankenstein story refracted through feminist philosophy, dark comedy, and steampunk visual extravagance, moving from black-and-white to lush, outlandish color as Bella's consciousness expands. Poor Things premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival in September 2023, where it won the Golden Lion, and was released theatrically in the United States by Searchlight Pictures in December 2023. It became Lanthimos's highest-grossing film, earning over $117 million worldwide on a budget of $35 million. Critically it was celebrated with tremendous enthusiasm, where the consensus describes it as "wildly imaginative and exhilaratingly over the top — a bizarre, brilliant tour de force for director Yorgos Lanthimos and star Emma Stone." The film was named one of the top ten films of 2023 by both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute. At the awards ceremonies, it swept the season: it won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy and Best Actress for Stone, five BAFTAs including Best Actress in a Leading Role, and at the 96th Academy Awards received eleven nominations — second only to Oppenheimer — winning four: Best Actress for Stone, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. And looking forward, here are the scheduled movies coming in November and December: Wednesday, November 4, 2026 at 7pm – Babette’s Feast – 1987 – Rated G – 1h 42m Directed by Gabriel Axel and adapted from a short story by Isak Dinesen, the film tells the lovingly layered tale of a French housekeeper with a mysterious past who brings quiet revolution in the form of one exquisite meal to a circle of starkly pious villagers in late nineteenth-century Denmark. The title role of Babette is played by Stéphane Audran — with Birgitte Federspiel and Bodil Kjer as the two devout sisters into whose isolated lives Babette quietly, transformatively arrives. Babette’s Feast became the first Danish film ever to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Among its many admirers is Pope Francis, who named it his favorite film of all time. In French, Danish, and Swedish with English subtitles. Wednesday, November 18, 2026 at 7pm – The Daytrippers – 1997 – Rated R – 1h 27m Written and directed by Greg Mottola in his feature debut, the film follows the distraught Eliza (Hope Davis), who discovers a love letter written to her husband (Stanley Tucci) by an unknown woman and turns to her tight-knit Long Island family for help — sending the whole clan, including a strong-willed mom (Anne Meara), a taciturn dad (Pat McNamara), and a jaded sister (Parker Posey) with her pretentious boyfriend (Liev Schreiber) in tow, piling into a station wagon and heading into Manhattan to find out the truth. With its droll humor and bittersweet emotional heft, The Daytrippers announced the arrival of an unassumingly sharp-witted new talent on the 1990s indie film scene. Critics were largely enthusiastic: the Washington Post called it proof that "a great movie isn't a matter of dollars, so much as creativity," while Newsweek noted that "thanks to the superb cast and Mottola's deft touch, this modest-looking comedy proves quite memorable." Wednesday, December 2, 2026 at 7pm – Brief Encounter – 1945 – Not Rated – 1h 26m Directed by David Lean and adapted from Noël Coward's one-act play Still Life, the film stars Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard as two married strangers who fall into a fleeting, unconsummated love affair after a chance meeting at a railway station, told largely in flashback through Johnson's internal narration. Restrained, quietly devastating, and shot in stark black-and-white with Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto as its emotional backbone, Brief Encounter became a landmark of British cinema for its portrayal of repressed longing and moral duty. It was widely praised on release — earning the Grand Prix at the first Cannes Film Festival in 1946 and Academy Award nominations for Lean's direction, Johnson's performance, and the screenplay — and it continues to be regarded by critics as one of the finest British films ever made, frequently topping "greatest films" lists for its emotional precision and understatement. Wednesday, December 16, 2026 at 7pm – The Holdovers – 2023 – Rated R – 2h 13m Directed by Alexander Payne, the film is set at a New England boarding school over the 1970 Christmas break, where curmudgeonly ancient history teacher Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is stuck supervising the handful of students with nowhere else to go. As the group dwindles to just one, sharp-tongued troublemaker Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), Paul and the school's head cook, Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), who is grieving the loss of her son, form an unlikely bond over their shared isolation. Written by David Hemingson, The Holdovers was a major critical success, earning five Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, with Randolph winning Best Supporting Actress. Critics praised its warmth, wit, and old-fashioned craftsmanship, with many calling it one of the finest films of the year and a worthy heir to the character-driven dramas of the era it evokes. Wednesday, December 30, 2026 at 7pm – The Thin Man – 1934 – Not Rated – 1h 33m Directed by W.S. Van Dyke, the film stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, a witty, hard-drinking former detective and his wealthy wife who are pulled back into sleuthing when an old acquaintance's inventor father goes missing amid a string of murders. Their affectionate, wisecracking rapport, as much as the mystery itself, became the heart of the film, setting the template for the screwball detective comedy. Based on Dashiell Hammett's novel of the same name, The Thin Man was a critical and commercial sensation on release, earning four Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Powell. It remains a landmark of 1930s Hollywood, celebrated for launching a beloved franchise and for Powell and Loy's chemistry, still considered one of the great screen partnerships in film history. This season’s BSFI movie screenings are being generously underwritten by the Borrego Valley Endowment Fund (BVEF). See you at the movies!
Sunset Dinner Specials at La Casa del Zorro
