"Super Scooper" based in South Lake Tahoe being used in Kyburz Fire

On Monday, the U.S. Forest Service welcomed a Bombardier CL415 firefighting aircraft to the South Lake Tahoe. On Friday, it is already seeing action after being called out to the Kyburz Fire burning just west of Lake Tahoe.

Nicknamed "Super Scooper" because it can scoop up 1,600 gallons of water from a lake and drop it on the front lines of a fire. It takes just 20 seconds to pull enough water into the plane to fill up the two large tanks on board. It can be reloaded by skimming along a lake six feet deep but it is preferred to be ten feet

Water was taken out of South Lake Tahoe and dropped on the front lines of the Kyburz Fire. Union Valley Reservoir was identified as a possible source for water, but it had yet to be certified. Due to the emergency Friday, the aircraft had permission to drop in.

Law enforcement was called out to the reservoir due to the large number of people taking photos of both the CL415 and helicopters in action.