Against Juneau’s gray skies this weekend, the bright yellow planes that landed at Juneau International Airport were a spectacle.
They are DeHavilland CL-415EAF firefighting planes — known as Super Scoopers because they can skim the surface of bodies of water and refill their 1,400-gallon tanks. Each has a two-person crew.
The planes are headed to the Fairbanks area to fight fires. They were supposed to leave on Sunday but were weathered in for an extra day. They’re expected to leave Juneau on Monday afternoon.
The Scoopers are owned and deployed by Bridger Aerospace, a company in Montana that contracts with the U.S. Forest Service for firefighting. The planes are specially designed for that purpose and cost $30 million each.
