Water Bombers on Shawnigan Lake BC fighting the Old Man Lake Fire in Sooke BC.

[@jacksonmacd]

The segment around 2 minutes is fantastic. You can even see the moment the tank is full and water comes out of the overflow. Great work, for both you and the pilots.

[@raincoastphoto]

Thanks

[@kevinarmstrong864]

Thanks forthe footage and a bigger Thanks to Ontario for the planes !

[@raincoastphoto]

Thanks and I agree

[@allanpiercy4785]

And a better question is, why doesn't BC have our own fleet??? We used to, we have helicopters with tea cups.

[@suddenlysolo2170]

@@allanpiercy4785 I think we just contracted out the water bombers, we didn't own them, at least not in the last 30 or 40 years. Wildfires don't respect provincial boundaries so there should be federal firefighting equipment and teams stationed throughout the country ready to respond.

[@theRICKbowman]

Excellent footage! I saw both of these aircraft along with their "bird dog" spotter aircraft at Abbotsford International Airport, while they were getting fuel on July 27th and 28th. On the 27th I had the pleasure of meeting the crew who invited us aboard to have a quick look inside the aircraft and answered all of our questions about it. Then they hopped back in and took off again for their next bash at fighting the fires over there. Amazing machines, and a great crew.

[@susand1300]

Thank you for sharing this incredible footage...

[@raincoastphoto]

My pleasure

[@dougthomson5544]

Amazing pilots.

[@davidbeattie4294]

The CL415 is a brutally beautiful aircraft. Everything about it says this is a hard working tool for an impossible job. Brilliant.

[@HuckThis1971]

I used to inspect composite parts for this aircraft when it was owned by Bombardier. Even the tanks. My favorite aircraft after the DeHavilland Beaver. Owned by viking air now and assembled in Calgary.

[@rockfishmiller]

Yah, the fires are so unfortunate but wow, did you get some great footage, well done. Thanks for posting.

[@raincoastphoto]

Thanks for watching

[@Bruce-ft6ey]

Nice view of the lake. I built my first home half a block from the water in 1979 . A great place to live.

[@suddenlysolo2170]

And a great nudist resort a few minutes down the road in Cobble Hill!

[@Bruce-ft6ey]

@@suddenlysolo2170 that's true. A great German restaurant at the lake. I lived near the inn.

[@georgecalder5175]

4 brand new Mars Bombers built by Viking Air here in Victoria b.c, keep 2 on the Westcoast and keep 2 in Ontario, time to be proactive on these fires that are getting more intense and bigger than ever before.

[@nephewbob7264]

You're a bit confused. The Martin Mars is a retired airframe, and Viking, which is a subsidiary of DeHavilland, is building DHC 515s, an upgraded model of the CL 415, in Calgary. Current presale orders are all from overseas. To date, no Canadian orders for this aircraft have been placed.

[@niborselrahc4651]

You did a very nice job on the video. Nicely done. Kudos.

[@raincoastphoto]

Thank you very much!

[@ejennings98]

Amazing!

[@nononsenseBennett]

THANK YOU! There's very little news about this potentially catastrophic fire.

[@raincoastphoto]

Yeah it sounds like they have done a great job containing it today, hopefully we have favourable weather over the coming days

[@user-vp1sc7tt4m]

Epic imagery of the Mars Water Bombers and the pilots work... arcing down to the water and trimming up to a precise tail down skim across the surface until full tank and then power on to pull up and out off the lake back to the fire. This is amazing footage.

[@nephewbob7264]

That's a Canadair CL 415, not a Martin JRM mars.

[@spitfirenutspitfirenut4835]

You need to do some research and studying.

[@davidcarr7436]

I spent the summer with my family at Shawnigan Lake and Cobble Hill in 1970. Had my first girlfriend there. Good memories! Hope all goes well and everyone is safe.

[@raincoastphoto]

Thanks, yeah it is a great place to live that's for sure. The fire is currently being held

[@asquithmainlines699]

Great video but the music ruined the experience.

[@stevecarter9027]

Turn down the volume!!!

[@asquithmainlines699]

@@stevecarter9027 I muted it but I really wanted to hear the deep drone of the engines.

[@Adriatic1290]

Exactly

[@GnomicOne]

Amazing footage, must be incredible seeing it happening up close! Just curious, how often are they picking up water? Hope you're staying safe and that it's brought under control very soon.

[@raincoastphoto]

@@GnomicOne thanks. The turnaround has been 10-12 minutes so pretty quick. They seem to fly for a couple hours before needing refuelling and maintenance. Pretty incredible to watch, prefer it was an airshow

[@Oldguy-k3t]

In the case of fire fighting aircraft, bigger is much better.

[@raincoastphoto]

Not necessarily, the steep terrain and smaller lakes on the south island here actually work against the larger planes, but having all options available for different locations is the ideal situation

[@dalekrinke2674]

Great video if you could eliminate the annoying music!! Would really appreciate the sound of those amazing powerful engines. Thank you . 👍🌹

[@HuckThis1971]

Later in my career I inspected large components and even the wing with a laser tracker. That wing is thick and the air foil is for major lift.

[@raincoastphoto]

very cool thanks for the info, I imagine they need constant inspection with the amount of forces they endure

[@HuckThis1971]

@@raincoastphoto this was on the assembly line in Montréal.

[@HuckThis1971]

@@raincoastphoto these things are flying tanks. There is a video of sécurité civile in France of a CL-415 topping off a decent size wooden mast off a sailboat. I read the report and saw pictures of the damage. Wasn't that bad.

[@donlloyd2988]

According to reports the fire was so massive water bombers would have had little effect. The turbulence created by 100 meter flames made it impossible to use these aircraft. The risk factor was too great in Jasper.

[@gordonborsboom7460]

Are boaters asked to stay off the water when the water bombers are around, or do they voluntarily vacate?

[@raincoastphoto]

For the most part people are staying out of the way, a large fine if you get in the way definitely helps

[@LenMar-e5l]

Fines can be levied from $1150.00 to $100,000.00 if you don't park your watercraft. “All boaters are required to dock immediately if aircraft are operating on the lake as any obstruction to approach, filling and departures will cause the mission to be aborted,”

[@jimg5703]

My question is were there any of these CL415 available or used on the fires in Jasper, if not why?

[@dginta7932]

Oh yes sir we will get you those answers now.

[@Alwayswilling]

Thart would depend on Albertas fire centre requesting such aircraft. Planes don't just show up in fire season as the flames can be pretty much anywhere and coordination is an essential factor in fighting these fires. You might ask your own premier Smith what help she has sought. Shawnigan Lake is a heavily populated resort area on Vancouver Island and deserves protestion from a fire only a few kilometres away. In between the Old Man Lake fire near Sook and Shawnigan sits the entire water supply for half a million residents on southern Vancouver Island, thus this fire carries much concern.

[@MichaelBarriskill]

Alberta does have some on contract, but they could have been in BC helping because the fools in Victoria don't require Conair to have any here.

[@joesutherland225]

Ask your premier that question! Lack of awareness? Gee ya think?

[@NotSureJoeBauers]

Don't know if there are any lakes sufficient for water bombers within reasonable range. IMO Air Tractor 802's are better since they can scoop off smaller lakes and have much much better performance.

[@MichaelBarriskill]

The only province in Canada that doesn't have CL415'S on contract, but sniveling every year for help from the rest of the provinces. Just absolute stupidity in this province. Thanks Ontario!!!

[@HuckThis1971]

Now viking air owns the rights to these aircraft. Assembled in Calgary now.

[@MichaelBarriskill]

@HuckThis1971 many many years away from CL515'S

[@HuckThis1971]

@@MichaelBarriskill cl 515 is going to be an awesome aircraft.

[@langleyjw]

Justin thinks its better to send our money to Ukraine.

[@pullerbeartreepuller9245]

@@langleyjw Isn't there an overpass waiting for you to display your real desires for Trudeau. Flap that F-Trudeau flag proudly Freedumb Convoy goof.

[@dginta7932]

Here comes the armchair fire experts... Let ‘er rip folks.

[@hughroney6342]

Were the 2 from Ontario the only ones there?

[@WeazelJaguar]

Same plane each time? What was the turn around, from pick up to drop?

[@raincoastphoto]

two planes, I was just swapping between photos and video for each. The turn around was 10-12 minutes

[@musiqueetmontagne]

So sorry to hear about this...Stay safe. 🙏🙏🙏 Yes, I'm afraid the older I get, the more I realize that Homo Sapiens is the most destructive of the animal species.

[@raincoastphoto]

Thanks, yeah we definitely need to change our ways.

[@georgecalder5175]

Hey Federal and Provincial Governments, wake up and smell the Smoke, Canada every Summer is on fire, we have lost 2 communities almost 3 in the last 4 years, bring back forest spacing program's and build bigger water capacity Water Bombers.

[@kentalbertawrex]

not an enormous- and typically very busy lake- how do they manage boat traffic?

[@raincoastphoto]

BIg fines and shaming on social media. A boat was filmed crossing in front of one of the planes and was all over the news

[@nononsenseBennett]

Communities vulnerable to wildfire should have MANDATORY high pressure sprinkler systems installed around their perimeter to prevent the devastation as seen in Jasper. Make it part of the building code. Let's get the conversation started!

[@raincoastphoto]

In theory it sounds great the reality in a place like where we live the cost would be prohibitive and not sure how effective it could be in mountainous terrain with a sparse population. A town site like Jasper however it most certainly could have helped

[@HOWNDOG66]

You might want to give that some more thought. Probably most communities are vulnerable to fire. The cost would be huge that most people wouldn’t want. Proper vegetation control would probably go further. Something that likely contributed to Jasper as it’s a federal park where bureaucracy keeps forest management from happening

[@nononsenseBennett]

@@HOWNDOG66 Agree it would be expensive but necessary to mitigate property loss. The vegetation management concept is a win-win and way cheaper. Getting people involved is the problem.

[@timothyirwin8974]

Is there a water bomber there not from Ontario?

[@raincoastphoto]

Just the two from Ontario plus some helicopters, but they are not filling up on Shawnigan Lake

[@GILLES9913]

Hi, 20km is pretty close hope you are ok.

[@raincoastphoto]

When you look at the catastrophe in Jasper it was 8km away then the next report was the town is ablaze so yes far too close for comfort, today sounds like it was a good day with no fire growth so hope the weather stays favourable

[@GILLES9913]

​@@raincoastphoto my thoughts are with you,stay safe

[@GILLES9913]

@@raincoastphoto Just saw some footage of Jasper pretty bad.

[@GILLES9913]

Hope you are ok.

[@raincoastphoto]

@@GILLES9913 thanks Gilles really appreciate that so far so lucky all we can really hope is the weather cooperates

[@davidg9927]

The 515 is great too

[@Tanker256]

Has it even flown yet?

[@KennDungate]

Great footage Raincoast. Canada should be replacing our obsolete jet fighters with these wonderful aircraft. A much more better use of tax dollars. Thanks. Please send some of your rain coast rain to the Okanagan.

[@raincoastphoto]

I agree with you, i just wish that was the world we lived in, with no need for the fighter jets as well. Yeah we got just a bit of rain hardly enough to spread around, hopefully the Okanagan sees some rain soon, with a La Nina coming this fall we will all be hoping for the rain to stop soon enough.

[@mikehall9468]

Great footage but terrible music!!! Would have much rather enjoyed listening to the engines working to fill and lift the plane into the air.

[@raincoastphoto]

unfortunately between a beach full of people, wind, and slow motion not many options for real time audio

[@Mike.715]

When was the last time Canada bought new water bombers?

Thanks for the assistance Ontario, we used to have 2 pretty capable water bombers but Christy Clark and the B.C. United party decided that we no longer needed them because Coulson Aviation was an NDP supporter😢

[@elrolo3711]

How many milligrams is that? Ha ha…Thats 6 cubic meters.

[@rd4660]

Please let us hear the whine of the engines and not the whine of the orchestra. Thank you.

[@raincoastphoto]

Just posted a follow up video with lots of engine noise

[@paulmaxwell8851]

Great photography! But I'd rather hear the engines than your unnecessary soundtrack. And yes, every community has its share of irresponsible jerks who start fires. I had someone drop a lit cigarette on my driveway just two weeks ago, and it was lucky I saw it smouldering.

[@frankmcnish8489]

Sorry but do not put this on climate change, this was lit by humans

[@saulteanuts-vg8iu]

Oh go away. You're about as deep as your cup full of tears.

[@saulteanuts-vg8iu]

You're right, you are "sorry".

[@saulteanuts-vg8iu]

Facebook science strikes again. Should have stuck it out in the third grade.

[@chrisgraham2904]

Forest fires are devastating Canadian forests and towns. This aircraft is obviously a major valuable tool for fighting forest fires. How many of these aircraft are there? How old are these aircraft? Who is manufacturing this, or an equivalent aircraft today? Why aren't there hundreds of these aircraft currently on order?

[@theRICKbowman]

To answer your second to last question... De Havilland Canada / Viking Air are producing a new version of these aircraft now in Canada (DHC-515 Firefighter).

[@chrisgraham2904]

​@@theRICKbowman Thanks. Canada is struggling to meet it's NATO military commitment to spend 2% of the GDP on Canada's military and Canada has recently been called out and embarrassed for not meeting its' commitment. How about Canada order a hundred or so of these water bombing aircraft under the military budget, to be owned by the military, but distribute them to the provinces that are being plaqued by wildfires? Provide the provinces with much needed fire fighting equipment, save Canada's valuable forests, protect the towns and cities in the path of wildfires and get closer to meeting our NATO commitment. The military budget serves both Canada's domestic requirements and foreign commitments. When the equipment is not urgently needed in Canada, the aircraft could serve other nations, such as the California wildfires. I understand that his aircraft can also serve very well in a search and rescue function and in monitoring Canada's sovereign coastline, tacking everything from foreign fishing trollers, submarines and smugglers. What do you think???

[@mattdobbs-dr2rt]

I think maybe they accidentally dropped gas on fire with how fast it's growing 😞

[@kevinoneill41]

You had me until you used the phrase as our climate warms. It's our summer it gets quite hot as it does

[@raincoastphoto]

4 days ago we had the hottest day ever recorded on Earth.

[@jeeperwill6262]

Combating forest fires with Alberta Petroleum power. Let's see an electric plane try and do that.

[@Ray-b9n3l]

😅whydowehave. quebec water bombers. where is Coulson?

[@HOWNDOG66]

Coulson is in Port Alberni and one of the largest air fire fighting companies in the world. They go where they are hired and paid. It seems that in BC and Canada, if companies don’t kick money to the government they don’t get hired.