Image Credit: Curtis Goodrum / CFJC Today

By Curtis Goodrum

BCWS AIRTANKER UPDATE

Wildfire service plane missions ‘well below average’ due to slow wildfire season

Aug 20, 2025 | 7:00 AM

KAMLOOPS – The BC Wildfire Service’s (BCWS) water bombers, skimmers and bird dogs have flown on more than 40 missions each so far this year, mostly across the province, fighting fires in Peachland, Vancouver Island and areas up north.

“The air tankers can go pretty much anywhere in the province. Most recently, a fire just outside of Vernon,” Greg Adams, BCWS air attack officer said.

Over one million litres of fire retardant have been dropped so far this year. However, the number of missions is much lower on average than in previous years.

“This year’s been a fairly quiet season, relatively speaking. We’re well below the average number of missions that we normally do at this point. At this point, we’ve only done 228 missions, and in an average season, we do about 480,” Adams said.

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The BCWS received a new bird dog in December 2024, and it has proved to be an incredible addition to the fleet.

“It’s our fastest bird dog that we have in our fleet. It has a really good avionics package. Meaning we can maintain really good situational awareness when we’re over the fires,” Adams said.

Attack crews across the province have found success in slowing and mitigating fires due to a variety of factors.

“We’ve had very favourable weather conditions this year, it’s just allowed us to be as successful as possible. The airplanes that we’ve got have allowed us to get to the fires fairly quickly and be quite effective,” Adams said.

The BCWS is continuously monitoring fires and using its teams to combat wildfires across the province.