A water skimmer soaring down to scoop up thousands of litres of water is quite a sight.

It’s not only visually striking, but it gives you hope and reassurance.

Whether it’s thousands of litres of bright red retardant or a big scoop of water fresh out of the lake, everyone loves to see a BC Wildfire Service aircraft arriving in a time of emergency.

If you want to get a good look, watch from the shore because boaters can get in the way, making it more dangerous and difficult for pilots, and it can often put air operations against a wildfire on hold.

Here are the numbers:

40: Aircraft are in the BC Wildfire Service fleet, but it has access to many more if needed.
150: Helicopters are available to BC Wildfire Service if needed.
152: Air resources are currently deployed to fight fires around B.C.
17: Bathtubs, or 2,700 litres. That’s about the upper limit of how much water a water skimmer picks up per scoop.
463: Missions per year. That’s the 10-year average for BC Wildfire Service airtanker crews.
11,000: Litres. That’s how much retardant some BC Wildfire airtankers can drop in a single run.
15: Seconds. That’s how long it takes a skimmer to fill its tank for a drop.
6: Skimmer aircraft fly together in a group when fighting wildfires.
100,000: Dollars. That’s the maximum fine for a boater blocking an aircraft trying to pick up water.