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Plan to let spray planes water bomb rural fires

NORTHEAST — The stubble in the fields is dry, ready to go off with a spark. The field itself is too wet to support a fire truck. The solution: attack from the air.
Spray Plane

NORTHEAST — The stubble in the fields is dry, ready to go off with a spark. The field itself is too wet to support a fire truck. The solution: attack from the air.

Since September 2016, Fred Bradshaw, the MLA for Carrot River Valley, has been working on a project that will allow spray plane pilots to legally fight fires.

The MLA, who’s a former aerial applicator and volunteer firefighter, said the aircraft have a dump door on them, which can be used to water bomb the fires.

“With your aerial applicators, they can go out and help fight that stubble fire, so the fire department doesn’t have to run their fire trucks out into the field and drag hoses all around and potentially get caught out there in a fire.”

The problem: due to liability issues, spray plane pilots can’t legally go fight fires in that manner. That’s why Bradshaw has been working to make it possible for the pilots to add firefighting to their Transport Canada-approved operating certificates.

“We were fortunate I knew a fellow that did the single-engine air tanker training down in Idaho, so I had him come up and train the pilots up here to be able to do this, so they could add the firefighting capability onto their operating certificate.”

Bradshaw said 25 pilots have gone through the training program, with another 25 wanting to take it next year. The MLA added that since he knows the trainer, the trainer hasn’t charged for the service, meaning the only thing the government is spending money on is renting the training facility. The pilots also don’t have to pay for the training.

Once the pilots are trained, the idea is to have local fire departments being able to summon them when they need their help. Bradshaw said the government is looking at having the fire department pay the sprayer each time they are called.

Despite the progress made on the project, Bradshaw said there’s a few items that still have to be dealt with, so the pilots won’t be fighting fires this year.

“What we have to do is train the local fire departments as to what to do when they call up the aircraft,” he said.

That could be possible through a course at a Saskatchewan Volunteer Fire Fighters Association school.

As well, the emergency communications system needs to be adjusted so that the pilots can be called to a fire.

Once those kinks are dealt with, Bradshaw said the spray plane firefighting program will be a useful tool for rural fire departments.

“It’s going to be something that’s going to be very helpful in the province,” he said. “It’s something that should have been done years ago.”