By Scott Taylor
For the past couple of weeks, the world has watched while Los Angeles has burned.
Almost inconceivably, wildfires have eviscerated one of the largest urban areas in the United States. Despite some far right American commentators trying to put the blame on the 'DEI' hiring policies of the L.A. Fire Department, the fact is that the real culprit behind this mammoth blaze is the combined drought and high winds whipped up by Mother Nature.
Those firefighters battling the flames under these conditions are to be commended.
In fact one of the sources of pride felt by Canadians is that we have been able to lend our southern neighbours a helping hand in the form of water-bombers to battle the blaze. Even with incoming President Donald Trump threatening to use economic force to make Canada the 51st State of America, the L.A. inferno has demonstrated the good neighbourly vibes that exist between our two countries.
However, it needs to be pointed out that while Canada and Canadians are proud that our nation is helping the US fight this fire, the truth is that those firefighting assets and personnel are being provided by provincial governments like BC and Quebec. The reason for this is that Canada has no federal agency tasked or equipped to fight forest fires.
Inexplicably, in a country that possesses 362 million hectares of forest - the third largest in the world -our Air Force is not equipped for nor tasked with fighting fires.
Ironically, one of the shining stars to emerge from this battle against the L.A. flames is the iconic CL-415 aircraft which is Canadian designed and built. Originally built by Canadair, the CL-415 was nicknamed the ‘Super Scooper’ when it first flew in 1993.
A twin-engine propeller plane, the CL-415 was custom designed to allow it to refill with water from lakes near the targeted forest fire, by skimming the surface. This allows the CL-415 far more time on station near the blaze rather than having to return to an actual airfield.
Following Canadair, Bombardier subsequently built the ‘415’ and then, in turn, it was De Haviland Canada that produced these water bombers.
In October 2016 the CL-415 programme was acquired by the Victoria, BC based Viking Air. Their aim was to modernize the existing design into what has been renamed the DHC-515 Firefighter, which is currently being produced at a plant in Calgary.
A quick glimpse at the Viking Air order book reveals that international users of this ‘DHC-515 Firefighter’ are almost all foreign air forces; Croatia, Greece, Indonesia, Morocco, Portugal and Spain just to name a few.
Which begs the question, why is the RCAF not responsible for fighting forest fires?
Now those familiar with the RCAF's current crippling shortfall in trained pilots and aircrew will groan loudly at the suggestion of adding to the already unsustainable operational workload. The Colonel Blimp traditionalists will wince at the suggestion of the RCAF being employed in a non-combat role.
However, I think you could easily find civilian pilots to volunteer for an RCAF Air Reserve Squadron whose primary function would be fighting forest fires to save our natural resources and infrastructure. This Fire-fighting Squadron could be truly 'reserve' in nature with those willing to volunteer in time of need based across the entire country.
This would be similar to the Disaster Assistance Relief Team (DART) which is not a formed unit but rather a list of serving CAF members at bases all across Canada who are assembled at CFB Trenton prior to deployment. The trade specialties and number of DART personnel are unique to each deployment and based on the specific nature of the disaster assistance they are to provide.
I'm sure recently many released RCAF aircrew would answer the call as the missions are challenging and rewarding in that the results are tangible in that you actually save lives and property.
Dropping loads of water on forest fires may not be as exciting as the prospect of engaging 'Fantasian' mock enemy fighter jets in a dog fight, but it would still be a hell of a lot more exciting than flying a cargo plane for a courier service.
It would also be great public relations for the Canadian military to have water-bombers bedecked in RCAF markings battling fires to save forests and urban communities.
Just look at the reflected glory Canada is currently receiving from the residents of L.A. despite the fact that the big yellow water bombers helping them have the Quebec logo on their fuselages. They really should be a truly federal asset.
