Super Scoopers: $4-5M/3month Leased Fire-Fighting Tools

• The Pacific Palisades Fire began at 10:30am Tuesday 1/7/25. Incident #0738 

  Update Brush Fire 01/07/2025 INC#0738 | Los Angeles Fire Department

• Fox 11 posted a video of the Scoopers at 12:30am Tuesday 1/7/25 Super Scooper picks up water to fight Palisades fire | FOX 11 Los Angeles

• The LAFD Alert up date at 2:45PM Tuesday indicated they were utilizing "12 helicopters and six fixed wing aircraft (across multiple agencies) Palisades Fire | Los Angeles Fire Department

• Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre said Thursday 1/9/25 that the U.S. National Interagency Fire Centre asked for two of its CL-415 Skimmer Airtankers to join the fight against the fires. “The request is being actioned but the delivery timeline is currently unavailable,” the agency said in an email to The Canadian Press. “We are also proactively working to identify potential resource availability, should more requests come in." Canadian water bombers on way to fight Los Angeles wildfires

•  According to the Canadian Press:  "Pascal Duclos, head pilot for the Quebec government's aerial service, said he spent several hours in the air on Tuesday, dumping dozens of loads of water over fire-devastated areas from his plane." 'On the front line': Quebec planes and B.C. helicopters battle L.A. wildfires

• "Stéphane Caron of Quebec's forest fire protection agency, SOPFEU, said the planes are dispatched with their own pilots, co-pilots and technicians."

• Harjit Sajjan, Canada's  minister of emergency preparedness, said in a social media post that "Team Canada, with Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta, is ready to deploy 250 firefighters, aircraft equipment, and other resources as early as" Thursday night.

Ravi Parmar posted January 9, 2025 3:22 pst on twitter  

"An update on B.C. Wildfire Service support for California:"

Two Canadian Super Scoopers,

Two CL-415's used for fighting fires, have been leased in contracts between Los Angeles County Fire Department and Quebec's provincial Transport Department for the past 31 years.

The initial lease of the CL-215's in 1994 over three months was $719,000 for two crews and mechanics, plus $515 an hour in flight. Purchase price for one plane is $16.5 million. The L.A. Times offers a history of the Scoopers prior to November 1994: Here's the Scoop : The Super Scooper, Los Angeles County's Newest Firefighting Weapon

The Scoopers arrived for the 2024 season, August 31st, 2024. 1165617_BoardMemo-FirefightingSuperScooperAircraftArrival-Aug92024.pdf

The 2024-2025 proposed budget from the LA County Fire Dept. Line Item #46 indicates there is an increase in cost for a HeliTanker Lease, increased amount for FY24‐ $128,045 

A KCAL video in 2016 revealed it costs $37 million to buy a Super Scooper and $24,000 a day to lease one. ($5.2 million for 3 months) L.A. County Supervisors Considering Whether To Buy Super Scooper  While an article in 2021 suggested the contract was $4million for 90 days. SCVNews.com | L.A. County Welcomes Return of Super Scoopers | 09-02-2021

A discussion in 2023 about buying vs leasing revealed the Scoopers are no longer in production  'Super Scoopers' firefighting planes arrive from Canada as LA County prepares for peak fire season - ABC7 Los Angeles

The addition of two more Sikorsky S-70i Firehawk, which cannot utilize salt water but instead deliver 1,000 gallons of water per trip, in 2021. Bringing to a total of 10 aerial firefighting vehicles in 2021.  The county has ten Firehawks at a total of $29.45 million.    

• 6 - Bell 412 helicopters
  
• 3 - Firehawks
  

LA County's Fire Department to expand its fleet of Sikorsky Firehawk helicopters | AirMed&Rescue

While Cal-Fire the State agency in 2021 had a fixed-wing fleet consisting of 

• 23 S-2 tankers capable of 1200 gallon water and retardant drops, 
• 16 OV-10 Bronco air attack aircraft
• soon seven Lockheed HC-130H aircraft that will be fitted with Coulson Aviation RADS tanks. These new CAL FIRE aircraft were secured through the National Defense Authorization Act CAL FIRE - Changing the Game With the S-70i | AerialFire Magazine
  

  They can scoop water from the Pacific Ocean unlike other aerial tools which would be damaged by the salt water. The Scoopers are capable of dumping 1,600 gallons of water each. Everything that You Need to Know about the Canadair CL-415

The L.A. County Fire Department notified each of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors of the lease extension with the Quebec government, for two CL-415's ("Super Scoopers") which  was set to expire on November 29, 2024.

• November 26th they extended the lease to December 15th.  1171014_BoardMemo-ContractAir-SuperScooperExtension-Nov262024.pdf
• December 10th, 2024 they extended the lease to  December 31, 2024 based on concern by the LABOS for the "lack of measurable precipitation and critically low live fuel moistures".   And a stipulation "The District will continue to monitor the fire activity, wildland fuel conditions, and weather forecasts todetermine if these important firefighting resources will need to be extended past December 31, 2024.  I will keep your Board apprised accordingly."   1173300_BoardMemo-ContractAir-SuperScooperExtension-December2024.pdf 

Coulson Aviation of Port Alberni, B.C  has touted they provided a double-rotor Chinook fleet and a smaller Sikorsky S-76 helicopter to fight the fires in Southern California.  Those were financed by Southern California Edison "Quick Response Force" 'On the frontline': Quebec planes and B.C. firm's helicopters battle L.A. wildfires

Southern California Edison in 2021 initiated a "Quick Response Force"

Southern California Edison designated $18million in 2022, to fund the aerial support for Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura County fire departments thru November 2022. It was extended to the end of 2024. 2024 WMP Target Updates (Nov 1, 2023).pdf

"The Quick Reaction Force consists of two Coulson-Unical CH-47 helitankers that can each carry up to 3,000 gallons of water or retardant, a Sikorsky-61 that can carry up to 1,000 gallons of water or retardant, a Sikorsky-76 intelligence and recon helicopter, as well as a mobile retardant base that can actively mix up to 18,000 gallons of retardant per hour.

The helitankers can function during the day and night, typically the best time to stop a wildfire, as winds die down, temperatures ease and humidity rises."

For the past three years, SCE has contributed over $24 million toward the lease of these super-sized helitankers. This funding is part of the company’s Wildfire Mitigation Plan,

Helitankers Prepare to Take Flight Against SoCal Wildfires | Energized by Edison 

 LA County Receives New ‘Super Scoopers’ From Canada to Help Fight Fires – NBC Los Angeles

 ​An alternative source, is Air Spray "North America's largest private operator of the amphibious CL-Series aircraft (CL- 215, CL- 215T and CL- 415), with 11 in our current fleet." ABOUT US - AIR SPRAY

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