Lake eyed as firefighting tanker's temporary home

Good news for California! These fire planes are a huge asset to fighting the inevitable fires here in Southern California. I have watched them from my porch pick up the water out of the lake and head off into the fires... Quite a sight to see! These airborn firefighters deserve our prayers and thanks, because like all firefighters they rush to danger when the rest of us flee.
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Forest Service officials have hired the aircraft and crew from the Coulson Group, based on Victoria Island, British Columbia, to drop water and retardant on fires that might break out primarily within the Cleveland, San Bernardino and Los Angeles national forests under a 153-day contract that runs to Dec. 15, said company CEO Wayne Coulson.

Lake Elsinore is an ideal locale because it is near the forests and is vast enough to accommodate landings and takeoffs by the world's largest amphibious plane, which has a wingspan comparable to a Boeing 747. The tanker would take off from the lake and scoop up water from Diamond Valley Lake that would be mixed with a gel retardant to be dropped on fires in the national forests, Coulson explained.

"We can get anywhere within those target areas within 35 minutes," Coulson said. "That was kind of a guiding principle for us."

Full article HERE