The violent fires raging in Southern California prove that the future belongs to intergovernmental agreements when it comes to fighting wildfires, according to SOPFEU. She actively works to develop new partnerships around the world.
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“Even the largest wildfire fighting agency in the world, Cal Fire, [Département de protection de la forêt par le feu de la Californie] cannot deal with this kind of emergency alone. […] Mutual aid has become essential with climate change and we are in negotiations to find other partners,” notes SOPFEU’s senior director of strategic and air operations, Luc Dugas.
Luc Dugas, SOPFEU’s senior director of strategic and aviation operations says the organization is in talks with other wildfire protection agencies around the world.
Stevens LeBlanc/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
As two more CL-415 air tankers prepared to take off at the request of the US government on Wednesday, he noted that without the help of 600 US firefighters deployed in June 2023 to control the Lebel-sur- Quévillon, “the biggest fire in the history of the province” could have caused much more devastation.
“We return the favor. For the moment, there is no request to send firefighters on the table, but we are ready if necessary,” he adds.
The pilots carried out the final checks on their aircraft before the big departure at 2 p.m. on Wednesday.
Stevens LeBlanc/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
Without respite
The director of the air tanker maintenance department of the Government Air Service (SAG), Martin Nolin, received a call that left him speechless last week: theUS Forrest Servicea US federal agency, has asked Canada to provide two additional CL-415 aircraft within seven days to work on preventing new outbreaks of fire around Los Angeles County.
“I took one or two hours to think and analyze if we were capable,” he confides with a smirk. THURSDAY [le 9 janvier]we brought in the first plane to prepare it and we were ready for takeoff not even a week later. We worked hard!”
Martin Nolin, director of SAG’s air tanker maintenance department, is very satisfied with his team’s efforts to deliver the planes which had been put into winter storage less than a week after the Americans’ request.
Stevens LeBlanc/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
“The whole team put their shoulder to the wheel. We all worked over the weekend to be ready. […] This is why I work at SAG: to help different communities that need help. I think we all have the same state of mind,” adds maintenance technician François Lapierre.
Long voyage
The technician who has worked on government aircraft for 14 years will travel aboard one of the two aircraft requested by the United States.
Six crew members were completing final preparations for takeoff to help in the fight against the Los Angeles fires, as the media passed by.
Stevens LeBlanc/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
A long journey awaits the six Quebecers who set out from Quebec. They will have to land briefly in Columbus, Ohio, to clear U.S. customs before leaving to spend the night in St. Louis, Minnesota. They will make another stop in Boise, Idaho, for an aircraft inspection and another night of rest. If all goes well, they will be deployed to Van Nuys Airport, near Los Angeles, on Saturday.
