Martin Mars Water Bomber Revived

The Ministry of Forests says there is a one-month agreement in place to use the iconic Mars bomber.

“As you know, it has not been used to fight forest fires for the past two years, and given that it’s coming out of retirement, we need to ensure that it is all set up and safe and ready to be engaged”. It is spreading along a steep slope by Sproat Lake, near Port Alberni. The other, according the CEO Wayne Coulson, is being sent to a museum in Florida. Due to its size, it can land on and scoop up water only from about 113 water bodies in B.C., in contrast to the 1,700 water bodies that the province’s amphibious scoopers can access, Thomson said.

The government is required to give the Coulson Group a notice three days in advance of using the Martin Mars.

The Hawaii Mars waterbomber went into the water at its home base of Sproat Lake on Tuesday as Coulson Aviation flight and ground crew prepare it for both firefighting and a contract to train pilots from China.

BC Wildfire Service reports that there are now 71 wildfires actively burning across B.C., 16 of those being an interface fire.

On Wednesday, July 8, 19 new wildfires ignited across B.C.

The water bomber’s owner says the plane will start fighting wildfires Saturday.