Last Saturday, as wildfires tore through pine forests in southwestern France, Canadair pilot Grégory Prats said only five of the planes were available to fight the fires. The French government has defended its firefighting effort, saying the Canadair planes are just one of the tools it has at its disposal. Its firefighting fleet also includes Dash 8 water-bombing planes, which can drop more than 2,600 gallons of water or fire retardant. The Canadair planes are specially designed for the particular challenge of fighting wildfires. “We don’t have a dedicated Canadair-like firefighting aircraft, but we have worked to bring firefighting capabilities to the aircraft we have.”