<P> The Marianas Mars crashed near Northwest Bay, British Columbia, on 23 June 1961 during firefighting operations; all four crew members were lost . Just over a year later, on 12 October 1962 while parked onshore at the Victoria airport, the Caroline Mars was damaged beyond repair by Typhoon Freda when she was blown 200 yards, breaking her back . The Hawaii Mars and Philippine Mars had their conversion into water bombers advanced and entered service in 1963 . They appeared at local airshows, demonstrating their water - dropping ability . Flying Tankers Inc. flew the water bombers to hot spots around the province when a need developed, such as in August 2003, when a large forest fire threatened the outskirts of Kelowna, British Columbia . </P> <P> On 10 November 2006, TimberWest Forest Ltd. announced they were looking for buyers of the Mars . A condition of sale was that the purchaser would have to donate one plane back to Port Alberni when they were retired, as a historic attraction . The Maryland Aviation Museum and British Columbia Aviation Council initiated a joint effort to preserve the aircraft, one for display in Maryland and the other at the current location in Canada . On 13 April 2007, TimberWest announced the sale of both aircraft to Coulson Forest Products, a local forestry company in Port Alberni, British Columbia . The two surviving tankers are presently operated by Coulson Flying Tankers and are based and maintained at Sproat Lake near Port Alberni . On 25 October 2007, the Hawaii Mars ("Redtail") arrived at Lake Elsinore in southern California, on a private contract, to assist with firefighting efforts at the California wildfires of October 2007 . Meanwhile, the Philippine Mars had been undergoing "extensive maintenance and renovation" and was expected to be ready to fly again by 2010 . As of 13 August 2009, the Hawaii Mars was in service fighting the La Brea fire east of Santa Maria in Southern California . </P> <P> The aircraft can carry 7,200 U.S. gallons (27,276 litres) of water and each drop can cover an area of up to 4 acres (1.6 hectares). The aircraft can also carry up to 600 U.S. gallons (2,270 litres) of foam concentrate for gelling the load drop . They are mainly used to fight fires along the coast of British Columbia and sometimes in the interior . As of July 29, 2010, the Martin Mars was being used to fight the Mason Lake / Bonaparte Lake fire north of Kamloops . </P> <P> On 23 August 2012, the Coulson Group announced that the Philippine Mars, due to its lack of use for five years, would be retired and flown to the National Naval Aviation Museum at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida to become a static exhibit . The aircraft was repainted to its original U.S. Navy colors and was to have been delivered to the museum in November 2012 . After many delays, the trade deal of transferring the aircraft to the museum was put on hold by the navy in June 2016, pending the outcome of the 2016 US Presidential election . </P>

How much water does the mars bomber hold