Funding to repair and upgrade a helicopter used by the Nevada Division of Forestry firefighters was approved Wednesday by the Board of Examiners.
The problem arose after the state's old helicopter crashed into a lake while fighting the Watson Lake fire on federal land in August 1997.
Officials feel that the state's claim for reimbursement has basically been ignored so far by the Forest Service so the state got two new helicopters from the California Division of Forestry. They asked for and received state funding totaling $126,000 Wednesday to fix up one of those helicopters so it can fly by the next fire season.
