Giant flying boat air tanker drops water on Southern California’s Mount Wilson

Giant air tanker drops water on Mount Wilson

LOS ANGELES — A giant amphibious air tanker has made a huge water drop on flames on Mount Wilson northeast of Los Angeles.

The World War II-era flying boat bombarded the peak Tuesday to extinguish flames from a sprawling wildfire that could endanger the historic Mount Wilson Observatory and adjacent TV, radio and cell phone towers serving the region.

Firefighters have been working to protect the facilities, including setting backfires.

The tanker is one of a handful of Martin Mars seaplanes built for the Navy in World War II and now in use as firefighting aircraft.

The four-engine airplane with a 200-foot wingspan can scoop up more than 7,000 gallons of water from a lake or the ocean.