Offer Is Open, But Coulson Group Says It's Had No Word From The B.C. Government

The Coulson Group, which owns the Hawaii Mars water bomber, still has hopes of getting the airplane in the air fighting fires this summer. But so far, CEO Wayne Coulson says that they've heard nothing from the government of British Columbia about using the airplane.

The Alberni Valley News reports that Coulson said Monday that he hoping that the new government that is coming into Victoria will look at how the firefighting contracts are done, and that it will be a "fair process". But so far, they've gotten no nibbles on using the Hawaii Mars, which has not fought a fire in the province since 2015.

Coulson said that the company has also offered up three helicopters for use fighting fires in the province. One, an S-76 command and control helicopter saw service in Australia this spring. It is approved to fight fires at night using NVG technology.

Coulson said that while he hopes the Hawaii Mars will see some action during this fire season, right now it's down for maintenance. He said the airplane bumped the bottom of the lake recently, and the repairs are still being finalized.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.martinmars.com, Original Story