Giant Super Scoopers Arrive In LA To Help In Big Firefights

VAN NUYS (CBSLA.com) — Two "Super Scooper" aircraft arrived in Van Nuys Saturday.

The giant water-tanker aircraft are used during fire season. This year, they arrived about three weeks earlier than usual.

The tankers are based in Quebec, Canada.

The LA County Fire Department has been leasing Super Scoopers during fire season for about 20 years.

The tankers will be based at Van Nuys airport, and will be ready for duty Monday.

The Scoopers would have come in handy during the Sand Fire. But LA County had to wait until fire season ended in Canada.

The specially-equipped planes are able to scoop down and fill up with water in just 12 seconds.

Sky 9's Stu Mundel has seen the Scoopers work up close.

"It's just amazing," said Mundel, "there is this overwhelming sense of wow, the power that this machine can make and the ability it has to put out so much fire."

The LA County Board of Supervisors voted on the new lease to bring in the twin birds and their crews at a cost of roughly $8.25 million a year.