Huge tanker plane arrives in Whitehorse to help train firefighters

It's a big plane and hopes are, it will help put out Yukon wildfires if it comes to it.

The Lockheed L-188 Electra arrived to theWhitehorseAirtanker Base last week from Alberta, tohelp train and prepare Yukon firefighters for the wildfire season.

It's as big as a commercial aircraft and there's only a few of them left in Canada.

"This year it looks like it's shaping up to be a busier than normal fire season," saidWalter Nehring, air attack officer with YukonWildland Fire.

Nehring said in a busy wildfire year, firefighters may have up to 70 missions.

Its belly is filled with fire retardant and it can hold 11,000 litres. The red, almost syrup-like liquid is dropped on fires from the sky. It's made of fertilizer and firefighters would use it as a last resort but it's more effective than water.

"It coats the forest fuelsmuch like water, but it lasts longer. It doesn't evaporate."

Nehring said it takes 11 minutes to load the retardant into the plane.

"Usually, they can be rolling in about three minute after that."

It goes back and forth from fires, and crews on the ground will rush to fill it up when it lands, even when there's no time to shut off the engines.

"The airplane will pull in and the props keep turning," said Nehring.

The plane is owned by a private company called Air Spray and is rented to Yukon for the summer.

The company says it's ready to travel to wherever there's danger whether that's the U.S., South America or even Australia.

• MORE NORTH NEWS |Search for missing N.W.T. travellers suspended after body spotted
• MORE NORTH NEWS |Yellowknife's fire-fighting vehicles not meant for off-road duty: Fire chief