California fires: Quebec sends two more air tankers
Posted January 15, 2025 3:09 pm.
Last Updated January 15, 2025 3:27 pm.
Quebec is stepping up its assistance to California, which is battling several devastating fires in the Los Angeles area.
On Wednesday, two additional air tankers and their crews – four pilots and two technicians – were deployed.
They join the two tankers that have already been on site since the end of August, under a contract that has bound Los Angeles County and the Quebec government for over 30 years.
For more than a week, California has been battling some of the most destructive wildfires in its history, so far claiming at least 25 lives and destroying thousands of homes.
“We’re sending two more planes to California to help them because they helped us in 2023,” said Luc Dugas, senior director, strategic and flight operations, SOPFEU, at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon. “That’s what we want to do is to help them, because we know that when we need help, they’re going to come here. So it’s mutual aid.”
As of Wednesday morning, nearly half of the Eaton Fire, just north of Los Angeles, was under control, and one-fifth of the blaze that destroyed much of the coastal Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacific Palisades was now contained.
Both fires broke out on Jan. 7, as high winds pushed the flames at remarkable speed and carried embers for miles.
“When we can do it, we’re going to do it. So if we can put on the crews on the ground too, for now, they’re not […] needed by them. But what when they’re going to be needed, we’re going to say, ‘yes,’ and then we’re going to send crew there too,” added Dugas.
Winds were beginning to pick up again in Southern California on Wednesday.
“All the vegetation is still dry, so we’re not immune to another fire,” Pascal Duclos, chief pilot of Quebec’s government air service.
He also added that they are looking for more pilots and for those interested to send their resumes.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
