Pilot Denies Flying Too Close to Fire

A news helicopter pilot denied Thursday that he flew too close to the Redondo Beach Pier fire in May and endangered firefighters, as the city’s fire and police departments have asserted.

The May 27 blaze destroyed about 34,000 square feet of the pier, including 15 businesses, and caused $7 million in damage. The fire department released a report this week saying the fire was accidental and was probably caused by an electrical problem.

The report criticizes helicopter pilot Bob Tur for hovering too close to the blaze, fanning smoke and flames, endangering firefighters and obstructing radio traffic with his copter’s noise. Fire officials said, however, that the damage would probably have been just as extensive if the helicopter had not been there.

“I don’t think in any way that we would have saved another inch of the pier had he not been there,” Fire Battalion Chief Pat Aust said in an interview when the report was released Wednesday. “. . . We do feel that his proximity could have added to the spread (of the fire); it definitely added to the confusion and endangered our people.”

Tur, who could not be reached for comment earlier, said Thursday: “It’s easy to try to blame other people for the ineffectiveness of the Fire Department. . . . They lost that fire, in my belief, because they didn’t know what they were doing.”

He said he offered to show a fire official his videotape of the fire as proof that he was not too close to the burning pier, but the offer was declined. His video shows that other helicopters were closer to the fire than his, he said.

“I was the only helicopter that was clearly identifiable because of the KNX on the side of the helicopter,” Tur said, referring to the call letters of a local news station where he has worked.

He said he could not comment on whether the noise of his craft interfered with the Fire Department’s radio communications because he was not on the ground. Tur said he tried to use his radio to help the firefighting effort.

In an interview Thursday, Fire Chief James L. Black was less critical of Tur than Aust was. “I don’t think Bob Tur really did that much damage, other than upsetting a lot of people at a fire where there was a lot of emotion,” said Black, who was not at the fire scene.

“The intent of (the report) was not that it was somebody’s fault. . . . There’s no one being blamed.”

Nevertheless, Redondo Beach police said they are investigating to determine whether Tur violated any state laws pertaining to reckless flying or violated any rules of the National Transportation Safety Board or the Federal Aviation Administration.