Super Scoopers leave South Lake Tahoe Airport

The three "Super Scoopers" that called South lake Tahoe home this summer left the airport on Tuesday, October 20. One plane is still under contract with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and headed to Oklahoma for the winter while the other two Bombardier CL415 firefighting plans are now off contract with the USFS and flew off to unknown destinations.

The company that owns the planes, Aero-Flite, Inc is located in Spokane, Wash.

In July, 2015, Jeff Marsolais, LTBMU Forest Supervisor said they had worked hard to get the super scooper in South Lake Tahoe for the past five months and that the area made good sense to be home to the plane given the drought conditions.

"We are hoping one or more of the scoopers will return next year," said Lisa Heron of the USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. She said Marsolais will be working hard once again to accomplish that.

The planes are nicknamed "Super Scooper" because they can scoop up 1,600 gallons of water from a lake and drop it on the front lines of a fire. It takes just 20 seconds to pull enough water into the plane to fill up the two large tanks on board. It can be reloaded on a lake six feet deep but it is preferred to be ten feet.