The government has reached an agreement with the owner of the Martin Mars water bomber.
The bomber will be used on an as-needed basis, and costs will be tacked onto an existing contract with Coulson Group of Companies’ helicopters.
The tanker plane can drop 27,000 litres of water per load, and aided BC Wildfire Services for 53 years before parting ways in 2013.
Owner Wayne Coulson says he was in talks with the government for roughly 90 days, but the province didn’t think the wildfire situation was desperate enough until last week.
Coulson added aircraft is important to keep property safe, and to support firefighters.
The plane was supposed to be available to the Chinese government on Juny 20, but Coulson says he is trying to push that date back to September.