LA Firefighters Welcome 2 Super Scooper Airplanes

VAN NUYS (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles Fire Department is ramping up its aerial firefighting arsenal for a busy brush fire season.

On Thursday afternoon, the Fire Department received two Canadian Super Scooper firefighting airplanes that are now based at Van Nuys Airport. Super Scoopers are amphibious and fight fires by collecting water from lakes then dropping that water onto fires from above.

The planes will be prepared for flight over the next couple of days, for example, by being programmed to local radio frequencies. By Saturday, they should be ready to fly, the Fire Department said.

Local firefighters have also been granted access to a firefighting helicopter that is on loan from the state and also based out of the Van Nuys Airport.