The province is down one water bomber after an aircraft was damaged after striking a rock while operating on the Burin Peninsula last September.

Fixing the damage comes with a big price tag.

MHA for Labrador West, Jordan Brown raised questions about the water bomber in the House of Assembly, asking whether the province would be properly equipped in the case of a forest fire.

Minister of Transportation and Works, Steve Crocker says the province is prepared.

Newfoundland and Labrador some of the best square-kilometer coverage anywhere in the country according to Crocker.

The cost to fix the plane is around $8 million US, and Bombardier no longer makes that model of aircraft. Crocker says the deductible is $10 million.

One of the challenges they face is there are no “off-the-shelf parts”, so any part that needs to be replaced needs to be manufactured.

Crocker says they’re waiting on a final assessment, but it could take anywhere from 18 to 24 months to fix.

The province is a part of the National Forest Fire Emergency Sharing Plan and if need be, they can draw on that, but hopefully they won’t find themselves in that situation.

Meanwhile, the NDP MHA for Lab West says having one water bomber out of commission is a concern.

Jordan Brown says he would like to see the full fleet of water bombers return to service as soon as possible.

He says it’s a necessary service, and cost shouldn’t matter.