San Diego Fire-Rescue officials are searching for the best place in La Jolla for a HeloPod to assist with local fires and cut down on flight time.

San Diego fire officials want a new water dip site in La Jolla to aid future firefighting efforts and have homed in on two possible sites in 92037, with one outshining the others.

The prime spot under consideration is a paved, unused area of land along La Jolla Parkway at La Jolla Scenic Drive North, according to San Diego Fire-Rescue air operations chief John Brubaker.

The other La Jolla site under review is the La Jolla Country Club, and though that’s still a possibility, its being private property presents some stumbling blocks, Brubaker said at the Sept 16 meeting of the La Jolla Shores Association. 

The La Jolla Parkway site is currently owned by the city of San Diego.

The La Jolla, Clairemont, Bay Ho and University City areas form “one of the biggest gaps for a fresh water source,” Brubaker said, which can hamper local firefighting efforts.

“Currently, we don’t have any real close freshwater bodies of water to dip out of,” he said, adding that the saltwater from the ocean and Mission Bay is the “number one killer” of firefighting helicopters, causing engines to corrode, overheat and evaporate the water.

Additionally, to dip, aircraft have to fly very low, he said; which creates a vulnerability for the helicopter that can be hard to escape.

Firefighters will take on the risk to their aircraft, however, “if we believe your life is threatened,” Brubaker said. “We’re willing to take an elevated risk and sacrifice equipment to save a life.”

Fires in canyons, while devastating, don’t always meet that risk, he added.

Current aircraft protocols mean firefighters lift off from Montgomery Field with a full tank of water, fly several miles to La Jolla, drop the water, fly back, land, refill the thousand-gallon tank in three minutes and return.

A round trip from Montgomery Field to the top of Mount Soledad is 14 miles and takes about 12 to 15 minutes, Brubaker said.

With a fast-moving fire, every minute counts. “If we can make a significant impact in that first hour, that’s our best chance of success,” he said.

Brubaker worked with the La Jolla Fire Safe Council, formed in response to the January 2025 fires in Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles County and a smaller one in La Jolla on Gilman Drive, to identify feasible sites. 

The two best sites were culled from about 40 options, Brubaker said, noting none of the sites is perfect.

Most sites are ruled out for various reasons and personal swimming pools are not ideal as power lines, lawn furniture and more impede access.

A water dip site needs to comply with airspace restrictions, allow departure paths in varying winds, provide 100 feet of safety clearance, be free of overhead obstructions and terrain and have a reduced impact to neighborhoods and schools, among other criteria.

The La Jolla Parkway site now at the top of the feasibility list comes with a few challenges: about 10 Torrey pine trees would need to be removed for clearance, a few street lamps would need to be removed or relocated and existing power lines would need to be considered.

But it’s in an already disturbed area with a newly installed, 12-inch water main placed three feet below the surface, Brubaker said.

Identifying the sites is only the first step, Brubaker said. “There’s a lot of hurdles and things we need to overcome.”

Those obstacles include a lengthy review process for environmental, traffic and other studies. 

Once a site is chosen, the water dip system to be installed would likely be a HeloPod, a portable, self-filling tank that connects to municipal water supplies and resembles a large dumpster.

The HeloPod can be remote-activated in case of fire, he said, and would cut down flight time and distance between drops to La Jolla and surrounding areas.

The La Jolla Shores Association voted unanimously to approve the La Jolla Parkway location, though Brubaker emphasized many more conversations will have to take place before a HeloPod can be installed.

“There’s a lot more to it,” he said.