Last summer, South Lake Tahoe was one of the home bases for two Bombardier CL415 firefighting aircraft known as “Super Scoopers,” and as of this weekend, they are back again.
The two planes are part of national firefighting efforts, so can be moved at any time depending on needs. They arrived from fighting fires in Alaska, and find the Lake Tahoe area a good base since close to areas susceptible to fire. They are prioritized on a daily basis by the National Interagency Fire Center.
Super Scoopers are named as such since they can scoop up 1,600 gallons of water from a lake and drop it on the front lines of a fire.
This is year two of a five year contract with the USFS. allowing the CL 415 planes to be in the US. They holds two pilots, two mechanics and one flight manager. Pilots that fly the planes are highly skilled since they not only have to know how to fly a plane, they also need to be trained in amphibious operations.
The plane cannot land above 10,000 ft but it can pull out water from local lakes 8,000 ft in elevation and below. Lake Tahoe and Fallen Leaf Lake are both sources of water in case of an emergency.
It takes just 20 seconds to pull enough water into the plane to fill up the two large tanks. It can be reloaded on a lake six feet deep but it is preferred to be ten feet.
The CL415 doesn’t need much ground equipment to operate so it can go almost anywhere. All it needs is water. It can hold chemicals but the USFS prefers to use just water to fight fires.
Lisa Heron of the USFS LTBMU said it is unknown how long the two planes will be based in South Lake Tahoe, it all depends on forest fires and the need across the country.