(Toronto) Water bombers are an easily recognizable part of Canada's wildfire response and play an important support role.
Published yesterday at 9:48 p.m.
Jordan Omstead The Canadian Press
The planes are important in a country where wildfires often spread over vast, remote areas and provide a way to contain fires until ground crews arrive.
But as Canada's water bombers age and the fire season is expected to intensify, some firefighters and civilian safety experts say Canada needs to bolster its fleet of firefighting aircraft, even as several provinces downplay concerns about their capacity.
“We are really starting to see the impact of the aging fleet,” said Eric Davidson, president of the Professional Association of Wildland Firefighters of Ontario.
This year, Canada experienced its worst wildfire season on record, exposing deficiencies in the country's firefighting capabilities, from retaining firefighters to recruiting them.
Thousands of wildfires have devastated so much land that they have engulfed Nova Scotia three times and the city of Toronto 280 times, choking the skies with smoke and prompting evacuations of communities.
As attention turns to the coming season, some are wondering whether Canada has the fleet of water bombers it needs to handle longer, more intense wildfire seasons fueled by climate change.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY SOPFEU
Forest fires in Lebel-sur-Quévillon, in June 2023.
“If we don't support our teams with retention and recruitment, and if we don't have aircraft and equipment … then I think we have a lot of problems,” said Mr. Davidson, who has fought wildfires in Ontario for 10 years.
John Gradek, a professor of aviation management at McGill University, estimates that nearly half of the largest water bombers used to fight wildfires in Canada are nearing the end of their service lives.
“Now is the time for us to reflect on how we abandoned our wildfire equipment and rebuilt a resilient fleet,” he argued.
While provinces have expressed interest in replacing some of their more than 50-year-old models, a Canadian company that makes a large “skimmer” water bomber has reportedly received orders from European countries at least through the end of the decade.
Fixed-wing water bombers – also called tankers – are often divided into two types: land-based tankers, which are loaded with water or fire retardant before takeoff, and “air tanker” type aircraft. Skimmers that can recover thousands of liters of a body of water during flight.
A province-specific approach
Each province is responsible for fighting forest fires, creating a patchwork of approaches.
Ontario and Quebec, for example, have their own fleets, while British Columbia subcontracts its aircraft. The Northwest Territories, which had to evacuate the capital Yellowknife and several other communities due to wildfires this year, has a mix of government aircraft and long-term contracts.
British Columbia's Forestry Ministry said it has been renewing its fleet of 19 air tankers since 2020 under a long-term contract.
According to Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, the province has 20 fixed-wing aircraft to combat wildfires, including nine large water bombers that are on average 24 years old. The other 11 smaller aircraft are on average 53 and 55 years old.
“The fleet is well equipped to fight wildfires and support transportation in Ontario,” said Melissa Candelaria, spokesperson for Minister Graydon Smith.
A spokesman for the Northwest Territories Department of Environment and Climate Change said it will evaluate the need for additional local firefighting capacity given climate changes in the country's wildfire seasons.
“While it is tempting to focus on aircraft because they represent the most visual and dramatic aspect of wildfire suppression, it is important to note that this is not part of a full suite of tools we use to fight wildfires,” said Mike Westwick.
Although Canada has a system in place to get aircraft and other firefighting resources to areas where they are needed, the center responsible for coordinating those requests said it has come under pressure this year.
Too many provinces and territories are dealing with worsening fires at the same time and there are “very few aircraft” available to loan to other services, said Jennifer Kamau, communications manager for the Interagency Fire Center in Canada.
There are several challenges ahead of us
Mike Flannigan, a wildfire professor at Thompson Rivers University, argued that the unprecedented wildfire season highlighted the challenges ahead.
“This will become more difficult over time as fires become more severe as our climate warms and there is more flammable vegetation available to burn and it burns more intensely,” Mr Flannigan explained.
The demand for firefighters, helicopters and water bombers will only increase…we must strategically increase our resources.
Mike Flannigan, a wildfire professor at Thompson Rivers University
In Quebec, the Society for the Protection of Forests from Fires (SOPFEU) said its fleet of 14 water bombers is enough to protect the province's southern regions during most fire seasons. But SOPFEU director general Eric Rousseau said last month that the fleet could be too widespread if fires simultaneously threaten communities and hydropower infrastructure in the more remote regions of the north.
An analysis of the Quebec fleet found that four of these aircraft were over 50 years old, while the others had been in service for 25 to 30 years. Eight of the new models have undergone a $50 million electronic upgrade, and Rousseau said he is in discussions with the province to potentially replace the older aircraft.
However, this could pose a problem as European countries would announce new production of water bombers by the end of the decade.
De Havilland Canada announced this year that it would restart the Canadair water bomber program after ceasing production of the last CL-415 in 2015. The aircraft manufacturer has already signed letters of intent with European countries for the purchase of the first 22 copies of the new DHC-515.
The company said it was behind schedule and that the first orders were not expected until the 2027 wildfire season.
The federal government has committed $256 million over five years to a cost-share fund to help provinces and territories improve their firefighting capabilities, including aircraft.
Mr Davidson said years of waiting for new aircraft could test the limits of an aging fleet. And given that the planes would have cost more than $30 million, he wondered whether the provinces would be able to cover the costs.
“I think it's almost time to nationalize the fires in this country,” he said, an idea also put forward by Professors Gradek and Flannigan, although all acknowledged there would be obstacles.
Fire management is the responsibility of the provinces and raises questions of jurisdiction as well as logistical issues such as where the planes will come from and how they will be paid for.
However, a national fleet operating from existing military bases and deployed to areas where extreme fires are predicted could make a difference, Flannigan said. He also gave examples of converting airliners into water bombers to strengthen a fleet.