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(Bloomberg) — Firefighters battling flames ripping across the Southern California landscape have had help from the air. Amid the assault to quell the blazes, one aircraft has stood out in particular: Canada’s iconic yellow firefighting planes scooping up water from the Pacific to douse fires. 

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The aircraft — commonly called a Canadair after its original manufacturer — are on loan to Los Angeles County from Quebec. They are part of a long-standing agreement between the two governments to provide mutual aid to combat wildfires. As global warming makes conflagrations more frequent and intense around the world, acts of climate diplomacy are becoming increasingly important. 

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The fires have razed swaths of the Los Angeles area, killed at least 10 and forced almost 180,000 to flee their homes. The disaster is likely to rank among the costliest in modern US history, with total insured losses alone of $20 billion, according to a JPMorgan Chase & Co. report published on Wednesday. The battle against the blazes has required both aerial and ground firefighting as the flames move from wildlands to urban zones.

Along with aircraft, Canada’s outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau posted on social media that his country is ready to deploy 250 firefighters and additional equipment to help. The message comes amid tensions between the US and Canada after President-elect Donald Trump suggested the northern neighbor could become the 51st state and threatened blanket tariffs. Trudeau responded there isn’t a “snowball’s chance in hell” that would happen. The National Interagency Coordination Center “is currently working to fill the order requests with firefighters from the United States,” Piper Brandt, a spokesperson for National Interagency Fire Center, said in email.  “Many of the requests for fire engines and overhead personnel are being filled with state, county, and city personnel and equipment through state-to-state assistance.” Whether additional international assistance is needed will become clear as that process unfolds, she said.  On Friday afternoon, British Columbia’s Premier David Eby said California requested that the province supply a senior management team. ”We’re also working to send ground crews as part of a national response,” he tweeted.

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Los Angeles county has had a contract to rent the water bombers for more than 30 years. It’s currently using two of them flown by a rotation of eight Canadian pilots. The US has requested two more through the NICC. They will likely be delivered next week, a spokesperson for Quebec’s forest protection agency said.

Aircraft from a variety of agencies are part of the aerial attack on the fires, including resources from Calfire, the state agency. Governor Gavin Newsom has touted it as having the most advanced fleet in the world. The agency has typically relied on military surplus, though it has taken steps to modernize its aircraft in recent years. That includes ordering 16 “Fire Hawk” helicopters that can fight fire at night from Lockheed Martin Corp.-owned Sikorsky, 13 of which have been delivered, and retrofitting 7 C-130 airtankers also made by Lockheed.

The state also relies on private contractors to provide additional support and mutual aid. Around the world, governments have been working to build up their aerial firefighting arsenal as fires grow ever-more destructive. Bloomberg Green reported last year that European countries are waiting in line for Canada’s specialized amphibious firefighting plane which has unique size and maneuverability. It was out of production for almost 10 years, and a new manufacturer has only started to make them again. It will take years until the orders can be fully delivered. 

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Governments in the meantime have struck deals to coordinate the use of existing Canadairs. They have in a way become symbolic of the type of collective action and coordination needed across borders to fight climate change. Trump has promised a more fragmented and transactional approach to diplomacy, though. 

“We’re no stranger to the challenge of wildfires, and California’s been there to help our Canadian firefighters out time and time again,” Trudeau wrote on X. “Canadian water bombers are already in action on the front lines. We stand ready to provide more resources to our American neighbours.”

—With assistance from Brian K Sullivan and Mark Chediak.

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