LA County Renews Nearly $14M Lease Of Air Tankers

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has renewed a nearly $14 million contract to lease two water-dropping aircraft from Canada to help fight wildfires.

The five-year lease allows county firefighters to call on two SuperScooper planes from Quebec as needed. The county would incur operational expenses only if the equipment is requested.

The Bombardier CL-415 aircraft are built to land on unpaved runways, lakes or river. They take only 12 seconds to load more than 1,600 gallons of water.

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