Warbird Information Exchange

Water bombers grounded by U.S. red tape
Sandra McCulloch, Times Colonist
Published: Friday, October 17, 2008

The Martin Mars water bomber based in Port Alberni was poised to assist in fighting raging wildfires near Los Angeles last week but instead got mired in bureaucracy, said the aircraft's owner yesterday.

Hawaii Mars has been in California since early July on a contract with the state. The aircraft landed on Lake Elsinore on Saturday, located 20 minutes from Los Angeles, after flying from its previous base at Lake Oroville in central California.

Before that, the Mars was at Lake Shasta where it worked at extinguishing numerous wildfires sparked by a lightning storm in June.

But despite its unique ability of dropping fire-suppressing foam on structures without causing damage, Hawaii Mars never got off the water last week to help with the fires near Los Angeles.

"We had our first taste of the bureaucracy of the infrastructure down there," said Wayne Coulson, owner of Coulson Flying Tankers of Port Alberni.

Fighting wildfires is an expensive proposition in California, last year costing the state $1 billion.

Last year, Hawaii Mars helped douse fires in San Diego county through its partnership with the state's forestry department. It dropped 163,000 litres of fire-suppressing gel on three fires there.

Last week's fires were all in Los Angeles county, and required a new set of negotiations for the Martin Mars to operate.

"The Mars was available, but trying to figure out how to contract it [to the county] was a major event," said Coulson. "We've never worked with L.A. county before and there's a whole group of different people and infrastructure."

However, the fire situation is under control partly due to the fact that the Santa Ana winds which normally fan wildfires were not as strong as they have been in other years.

"They normally last up to a week and this was only a short burst of a couple days," Coulson said.

Despite the lack of activity, the community around Lake Elsinore has welcomed the Martin Mars and its crew to the area off the Interstate 5 between Los Angeles and San Diego.

Hawaii Mars will return to its base at Sproat Lake in a few weeks and will remain here for the winter to undergo repairs and maintenance, Coulson said.

"We are starting to think about next year and we've got maintenance to do on the aircraft," he said.

It will take time to convince California's decision makers that the Martin Mars is safe to use on neighbourhoods threatened by wildfires, he said.

It is hoped talks over the winter make for smoother operation in California during next summer's fire season.

"We're working with everybody at all sorts of different levels," Coulson said.