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Should LA spend $37 million on a firefighting plane?
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Canadair Super Scooper releasing its payload of water in a demonstration at the Van Nuys Airport 9-4-2012. It can also drop fire-retardant foam.
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Jerry Gorin
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Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich talks to the board during a board meeting at the Hall of Administration on June 6, 2012.
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Andres Aguila/KPCC
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Arguing that Southern California's fire season is now a yearlong affair, L.A. County Supervisor Mike Antonovich wants a fire-fighting airplane known as the "Super Scooper" to be available year-round.
The Canadian-designed amphibious aircraft can scoop up 1,600 gallons of water in 12 seconds from a body of water, which is dumped over large-scale wildfires. The plane doesn't need to land to re-fill itself. Currently, the county leases two Super Scoopers in the months of September-November each year.
Antonovich has asked the Board of Supervisors to consider either leasing one year-round or buying one outright. Firefighters are currently battling the 37,000-acre Sand Fire in his district without a Super Scooper.
"Fire seasons were different in the 90s and early 2000s," said Antonovich. "Today, the fire season is basically 52 weeks out of the year."
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L.A. County Fire Chief Daryl L. Osby told the board that five years of drought and off-season fires have lead his department to expand its number of aircraft.
"Based on the response last Friday [to the Sand Fire], we felt we had the appropriate response," he said. "The fact of the matter is a Super Scooper is an additional tool we can put into our fires."
The price tag for a Super Scooper is $37 million, according to a spokesman from Antonovich's office. In the past, the county has paid $5.5 million to lease two Super Scoopers for the autumn months. The county also pays $1,100 per hour to operate the aircraft.
"Do we buy? Do we lease? Do we get partners?" Antonovich asked. "That's a decision we have to make."
The board will decide after the L.A. County Fire Department completes a comprehensive assessment of its aircraft. Chief Osby said he expects to return to the board sometime next month with a completed report.
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