Water bomber returns to Wabush after 3-year absence
Wabush Mayor Ron Barron has been asking for its return
Wabush once again has a water bomber stationed at its airport, after local leaders campaign to relocate a plane that had been based instead at Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
"I know residents will be very happy with that," Wabush Mayor Ron Barron told CBC Radio's Labrador Morning.
He's been asking for the water bomber to return since it was relocated to Happy Valley-Goose Bay three years ago, during construction at the Wabush airport.
Labrador West MHA Graham Letto issued a statement Monday expressing support of a government decision to bring the bomber back to Wabush.
Letto added the plane would be returning to the community immediately.
The only other water bomber stationed in Labrador will remain in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, the statement said.
Concerns about base
Barron said while the pilot and crew will be housed in hotel rooms in Wabush, that cost will be less than the expense of flying the water bomber back and forth from Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
His biggest concern about the plane's return is the state of the base from which the plane will operate.
The old base was moved during construction at the airport, he said, and "was damaged beyond repair."
In its place is a temporary work shelter, he said.
Wabush familiar with fires
Massive forest fires swept through Labrador West in 2013, forcing Wabush residents to evacuate. The fire was, at times, just three kilometres form the town.
"With the prevailing winds that day, if that plane wasn't here in the area that day, Labrador West and Labrador City probably could have been in a world of hurt that day if it weren't for the fast actions of the crew," Barron said.
"It just goes to show that when that plane is here on the ground, they can react readily."