County Unveils Superscooper Firefighting Aircraft Leased from Quebec for Fire Season

Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich and County Fire Chief Daryl L. Osby hosted a media day on Friday, August 12, to showcase the recent arrival of two Canadian CL-415 Super-Scoopers, Erickson Air-Crane, the dangers of drones (unmanned aircraft systems) and how drought conditions are expected to affect this year’s fire season.

SuperScoopers are a fixed-wing aircraft that can carry up to 1,620 gallons of water and takes only 12 seconds to scoop water from a lake and inject it with fire-resistant foam – a combination up to 3 times more effective than water alone. They can be airborne in as little as five minutes and fly three hours before refueling.

Quebec Representative Elizabeth MacKay, and Los Angeles City Deputy Chief Trevor Richmond were also in attendance.