Black Hawk helicopter owner seeks to join B.C. wildfire fight [Video]

A Metro Vancouver helicopter company is in the process of obtaining final approvals for commercial flights of its newly acquired Black Hawk helicopter with the hopes the powerful aircraft can help in B.C.’s wildfire fight.

Contour Helicopters gave CTV News an exclusive look at the ex-US military chopper as it performed test flights of its water retrieval and storage system over the Fraser River under a bluebird sky on Thursday.

“Cal Fire and LA County have been using these aircraft for over 20 years and they have a long history of wildfire suppression,” said owner, Colin Pelton. “This aircraft is on average about 50 knots faster than existing aircraft, so we can get to the fire faster and we can put three to four times more water per drop.”

The aircraft is equipped with what appears to be a rectangular orange box on the belly of the aircraft with a …