Glad to see the Mars is helping out in CA, but lots of people in BC would like to see it back to fight fires here. It's been one of the worse fire seasons on record.
Fires fought without Martin Mars water bombers
Darah Hansen, Vancouver Sun: Wednesday, August 5, 2009
It’s the worst fire season British Columbia has seen for years and the giant Martin Mars water bombers — among the largest flying boats in the world and the last Mars pair still in use — are nowhere to be seen.
One is grounded while undergoing heavy maintenance at its base in Port Alberni.
The other is on contract to the US Forest Service in southern California, where, coincidentally, there are few fires burning.
“It’s been really slow. We’re sitting in 105 F weather every day down there but there just hasn’t been much fire,” said owner Wayne Coulson.
It’s the first time in 49 years the massive water bombers have not been put to work helping to douse B.C.’s wildfires.
In that time, the aircraft — each one capable of scooping up more than 27,000 litres of water in a single load — has made over 4,000 drops on some of the province’s most remote terrain.
“We sort of let history speak for itself,” Coulson said of the bombers’ continued usefulness.
Coulson said he agreed to send the four-engine Hawaii Mars south of the border this summer after the province chose not to renew its contract with his Port Alberni-based company, Coulson Group.
“They [B.C. fire officials] felt they had ample aircraft for an average fire season,” he said of the decision.
Last year, the Hawaii Mars sat relatively idle in B.C. after a slow fire season. The aircraft was later dispatched to California in October to help suppress wild grass fires that at one point forced 500,000 people to flee their homes.
“If we hadn’t been released from the contract with the province last year, we wouldn’t have fought one fire,” Coulson said.
No one could have predicted the reverse would occur this year, he said.
Weeks of hot, dry weather this summer has resulted in hundreds of wildfires burning across the province.
“I’m sure if they [the province] could have, they would have made the necessary adjustments,” Coulson said of the contract. But, he added, “It’s one of those things.”
Ministry of Forests officials confirmed Wednesday it no longer holds a contract with Coulson to use the Martin Mars water bombers.
“In 2008, the Coulson Group asked the province if it could withdraw from the contract in order to pursue opportunities with the state of California,” a ministry representative wrote in an e-mail in response to The Vancouver Sun’s queries.
“Although highly recognizable, the Martin Mars water bombers have their disadvantages. They are less effective in higher-elevation, Interior operations or in areas that are a distance from a large body of water,” the e-mail stated.
Coulson said phones at his company have been ringing off the hook in recent weeks with callers curious to know where the flying boats are.
“At some point in time, whether as kids or as grown-ups, they’ve seen them flying,” he said.
The Hawaii Mars is stationed in Lake Elsinore in southern California, close to the Cleveland National Forest. A forest service spokesman said the aircraft remains on standby and, if needed, could be sent anywhere in the country to help battle forest fires.
The second water bomber, the Philippine Mars, will not be ready to fly again until the 2010 fire season following extensive maintenance and renovation, Coulson said.
dahansen@vancouversun.com© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
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