Los Angeles County renews $41 million Super Scooper contract for wildfire season
Only about 160 Super Scoopers fly worldwide, and Los Angeles County locked in two of them for $41 million as fire season intensifies.
Los Angeles County renewed a $41 million contract to keep two Super Scooper water bombers available for wildfire suppression, securing a rare piece of firefighting capacity before Southern California’s peak fire danger. The Canadair CL-415 amphibious aircraft can carry about 1,600 gallons of water, or roughly 6,136 liters, and scoop it from shallow sources, a speed advantage when flames are moving faster than ground crews can reach them.
The lease links the county to the Government of Quebec through Service Aérien Gouvernemental, the state aviation service that supplies the aircraft and pilots for the annual firefighting partnership. County documents describe the deal as a five-year, $41.25 million agreement, and in some years the planes are leased on a seasonal 90-day basis. The Los Angeles County Fire Department has used Super Scoopers for decades, making them part of the region’s regular wildfire response rather than an occasional backup.
Their value lies as much in scarcity as in performance. NBC Los Angeles has noted that only about 160 Super Scooper aircraft are operating worldwide, a small fleet for a system facing longer, hotter, and more destructive fire seasons across the West. That shortage turns each available plane into critical infrastructure. For Los Angeles County, renewing the contract means paying to preserve response time and aerial coverage instead of scrambling to secure aircraft once fire weather is already bearing down on the region.
The timing also reflects how tightly agencies now manage readiness. LA-area coverage has noted that the aircraft sometimes arrive at Van Nuys Airport nearly a month earlier than usual, a sign that planners are trying to stage resources before the worst winds and driest conditions set in. In January 2025, one Super Scooper was grounded after colliding with a civilian drone over the Los Angeles wildfires, a reminder that even a high-value aircraft can be taken out of service in the middle of a major incident.
For local governments, the contract is not just a line item. It is a budget commitment to keep rare airtankers on call when fire seasons outpace the supply of specialized aircraft. For Southern California, and for wildfire preparedness nationally, the renewal shows how a small fleet of amphibious planes has become one of the few reliable ways to add aerial muscle before the next fast-moving fire starts.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
