Call it a miscommunications or a message lost in translation.
The Ministry of Natural Resources confirmed on Thursday that they did in fact send a waterbomber from Sault Ste. Marie to Dryden where it was set to fly with one other waterbomber to B.C. and potentially to California.
After the story below came out on Wednesday, the Ministry of Natural Resources representative contacted SooToday to confirm that there was an error in it, caused when that representative did not respond to a follow up question asking if his reply meant that a waterbomber was not sent from the Sault.
"I want to confirm that we aim to deploy two CL-415 waterbombers from Dryden to Abbotsford, B.C. today - to be pre-positioned, in case California requests our assistance," said Mike Fenn, a spokesperson with the MNR.
"One of those waterbombers had been stationed in Sault Ste. Marie. That aircraft flew to Dryden on January 14, to join a second aircraft situated in Dryden."
Original story from Jan. 15:
It sounds like waterbombers from Sault Ste. Marie will not travel to California to assist with the fires after all.
On the weekend, a representative from the Ministry of Natural Resources said one waterbomber from the Sault and one from Dryden could be sent to British Columbia to then fly to California if requested by the state.
But, on Wednesday the MNR confirmed the plan is now to send two waterbombers from Dryden.
“We can confirm that two waterbombers are currently situated in Dryden and are targeting to depart for B.C. tomorrow, if weather permits,” said Mike Fenn, a spokesperson with the Ministry of Natural Resources.
"Forest fire suppression equipment and an Incident Management Team are on standby for deployment within 24-48 hours if requested. Additionally, 165 urban firefighters have volunteered and are on standby," Fenn said by email.
In Southern California, high winds have spread fires that have devastated communities, including Pacific Palisades and Pasadena.
Alberta, B.C. and Quebec have so far sent resources to combat the fires.