Latest news with #Conair
Buzz Feed
4 days ago
- General
- Buzz Feed
29 Productive Things To Help You Avoid Ever Working *Too* Hard
An undetectable mouse jiggler for anyone with a micromanager who's a little too invested in your online status. This will make it seem like you're active while you take a much-needed break. Zep foaming wall cleaner to tackle dirt, scuffs, and crayon masterpieces that are, unfortunately, on the wrong canvas. The foam clings to walls and works to break down fingerprints, grease, wax, makeup, and more without harming your paint or requiring much scrubbing. A jewelry cleaning pen you can count on to add new shine to your gems; no costly trip to the jeweler required. As someone who refuses to take off rings before washing dishes, showering, etc., I need this! A closet organizer *and* shirt folder that will finally address your — quite frankly — alarming dresser. Instead of balled-up tees crammed into drawers, you can enjoy neatly folded T-shirts that are easy to flip through. A pack of Spin Pins you can use to keep your hair firmly in place, saving you from constantly readjusting or fighting flyaways. A bagless, touchless stationary vacuum for anyone who wants to feel like a member of the Jetsons. While it won't clean your whole home like Rosey, it'll act as a super effective replacement for a dust pan. Just sweep dirt over to the machine, and it'll suck it right up. A Conair handheld steamer that I personally swear by for turning wrinkly balls of fabric back into the pristine garments they were before you left them in the bottom of your closet. It heats up quickly and removes wrinkles in minutes. And you really can't beat the price for how effective it is. A game-changing veggie chopper that will make quick work of your prep. Just add your veggies, slam down the lid, enjoy freshly chopped produce, and then throw the device in the dishwasher when you're done. Now you'll be crying tears of joy instead of tears from onion cutting. A box of Color Catcher sheets to prevent the dreaded "all my clothes are now pink from this one stray red sock" debacle. These handy sheets are designed to grab any dye that leaks or bleeds so you can keep enjoying your white tees even if you're not sorting clothes into lights and darks. A beloved, Shark Tank-featured Click & Carry Grocery Bag Carrier made with special padding to help you comfortably lift up to 50 pounds worth of bags on each shoulder, so now you really can do it all in one trip. A garlic rocker that's faster and easier to use than a traditional garlic press. It's also waayy easier to clean — best not dwell on the trauma of trying to fit a sponge into one of those things. 😬 A pack of disposable shower hair catchers for people who often forget to clean the drain after a shower and too squeamish to maintain a device like the TubShroom. You can just close your eyes and throw these away when they're too hair-infested. A batter dispenser you can use to make perfect pancakes and cupcakes every 👏 single 👏 time 👏. Gone are the days of using a measuring cup and dripping batter all over your stovetop. Now you can focus on the fun part: decorating! Who wants a lopsided Mickey Mouse? A dog paw-cleaning device to keep Spot's feet squeaky clean, because you can't exactly put hand sanitizer on a dog. (Seriously, do not do that.) Fill the tube up with soapy water and let the soft bristles scrub away the day's walk. A WD-40 pen that provides all the same benefits as the spray can (quieting squeaks, lubricating hinges, preventing rust, etc.) but now with an easy-to-maneuver, precise pen tip. You could just walk around your home, touching up every hinge you see! A nonscratch dish wand with a hollow handle you can fill with dish soap and vinegar so you can tackle your dishes or surfaces without wasting even a millisecond to re-soap your sponge. Let's get this DONE! A no-rinse soap that removes an entire step from hand-washing your clothes, making the whole process easier and faster. Just soak, squeeze, and dry flat! Slow cooker liners so you don't have to yank the heavy pot out of the cooker to clean it. You can also use the heat-resistant liners to make two hearty stews at once. Bags! Gotta love 'em. Or oil-proof paper air fryer liners because I know you've been ignoring those burnt crumbs and french fry grease, hoping some enterprising elves might take care of it. Sadly, they're all busy baking cookies and mending shoes, but you can at least avoid future cleaning with the magic of disposable liners. A self-cleaning litter box you can even control from your smartphone — sitting on the couch has never been so productive. It scoops the unmentionables into a separate compartment that you can throw away at your leisure. A silicone freezing tray that lets you section your leftover soups into perfect frozen portions so you don't have to defrost your entire vat of black beans every time you want a single serving. A sweet little fish who swims around in your humidifier tank, inhibiting the growth of buildup for up to 30 days. Now you can go longer between washes and maybe avoid the dreaded brown sludge that appears in some humidifiers. A set of drill brushes so effective, you'll be shocked how clean your bathroom used to be. Why spend the energy scrubbing when pressing a drill button will do the trick? It's so important to delegate. A SwitchBot Smart Switch Button Pusher that works with rocker switches and one-way buttons, meaning almost anything can be turned into a smart device. Once you set it up, you'll be able to use Google, Alexa, or an app on your phone to turn things on and off, meaning you'll be living in an IRL version of Smart House. A smart house that makes hanging out fun and doesn't imprison you, of course. Luigi's Sink and Drain Plunger that works as your personal plumber to pull up hair, food debris, and other gross stuff lurking in your pipes. The plunger works on any drain small enough to be fully covered, and the flexible bellow is as much as 10 times more effective than a regular rubber cup plunger. Mama mia! This thing is useful. A jalapeno corer so you can get rid of unwanted seeds in a flash and minimize the risk of slicing your hand open. Just insert, twist, scoop, and marvel at a bright future filled with endless jalapeno poppers. Garbage disposal cleaner that's not only easy to use, but also very entertaining. Run some hot water, pop one of the packets in your disposer, let it foam, then wait for the foam to fully disappear, and bam! You can admire your lemony fresh drain that was basically cleaned for you. A breakfast sandwich maker that cooks every part of the sandwich at once and then neatly stacks them together so you can skip the line at your local deli. Those $8 charges are starting to add up, after all. A set of paint touch-up pens for when you start to notice scuffs on your walls but don't want to commit to a full paint job. Just fill the pens up with paint, and you can forgo the whole roller brush entirely. This is also ideal for hiding any oopsies from your landlord when they do a walkthrough, looking for excuses to keep your security deposit.
CTV News
19-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
‘Absolutely critical': Teched out new planes lead B.C. wildfire response
Before an aircraft in British Columbia drops water on a wildfire or crews attack flames from the ground, a pilot like Rob Verstraten gets there first. 'We really have to size up the fire. We have to see what terrain and hazards we have to deal with,' Verstraten said. Verstraten flies in one of two new TBM 960 Air Attack planes from Conair Aerial Firefighting, known as 'birddogs,' alongside a provincial air attack officer. Together, they orchestrate the aerial response to a wildfire. It's a crucial role, according to Conair's director of business development. 'The role of the birddog team is absolutely critical to a mission. Without a strong birddog team your operation won't be safe, effective, or efficient,' said Michael Benson said. Benson says the two new birddogs are the most modern in the world, and cost roughly $10 million based on the purchase price paid by Conair and 13 modifications the Abbotsford, B.C.-based company made to maximize their effectiveness at fighting fires. The installed technology includes advanced weather sensors to detect lightning and infrared cameras. 'When you're flying over a fire, you can see the hot spots of the fire, and that displays itself in real time on a screen inside the cockpit. It allows the birddog team to make some real-time decisions to pinpoint accuracy around where they put retardant or fire-suppressing water,' Benson said. There are several factors taken into consideration when deciding whether to send in an air tanker filled with water or flame retardant, according to Eric Antifaeff from the B.C. Wildfire Service. 'The retardant is long term,' said the superintendent of air tanker operations. 'We drop it adjacent to the burning flame front, and it slows the growth of the fire. And then we could follow up with water to bring down the intensity and increase how long the retard is effective.' Kamloops provincial wildfire co-ordination centre The Kamloops provincial wildfire co-ordination centre is pictured in June 2025. (Andrew Johnson / CTV News) The birddog crew will decide what to drop on the fire and when, and will rehearse the route air tankers will take before calling in the larger planes to make their drops. Verstraten explained, 'We will test it ourselves first, acting as a tanker. We need to be able to operate in all the speed ranges that a tanker would typically operate in.' When a wildfire call comes in to the Kamloops, B.C., provincial co-ordination centre, the two-person crew can fire up the birddog in only five minutes. An air tanker can be filled with a full load of retardant in only a matter of eight minutes, taking off in 10. But, Antifaeff points out, the aerial attack is only part of the wildfire fighting equation. Rob Verstraten Pilot Rob Verstraten is shown. (Andrew Johnson / CTV News) 'I think the biggest misconception out there is that aircraft put out fires. We're just there to support the ground resources. You can have the best fleet in the world, but if it's not followed up by ground crews, heavy equipment and that kind of stuff, you're not going to be successful in fighting fires.' For pilots like Verstraten, who are trained to push emotion aside as wildfire is threatening a community, the reward is in the results. 'We really get a lot of satisfaction out of keeping people safe and trying to prevent any loss of life or property,' he said.
CBC
19-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Sask. Opposition decries grounded firefighting planes, government blames inspections and maintenance
Social Sharing Saskatchewan's Opposition NDP repeated criticisms of the provincial government's use of water bombers on Wednesday, with the province responding that planes were grounded due to mandatory inspections and necessary maintenance. At a news conference Wednesday, the NDP focused on four firefighting aircraft in the province's fleet that have been idle during recent firefighting efforts. "Frankly, it sounded unbelievable that in the type of fire season that we've seen that it could be possible that there were planes within the provincial fleet that weren't seeing service" Saskatchewan NDP Leader Beck said on Wednesday. "I can only imagine how incredibly frustrating that is to some of the folks who lost their homes." The Saskatchewan government has four Convair 580A land-based air tankers and six CL-215T Turbine powered water bombers in its firefighting fleet, along with a host of smaller aircraft used to guide the tankers. Four of those aircraft, two air tankers and two water bombers, have been idle during the province's firefighting efforts. The NDP also previously brought attention to an additional brand new water bomber, a Conair Dash 8-Q400AT airtanker, that the province took delivery of on May 30, but has not used yet. WATCH | Sask. blames maintenance for firefighting planes left unused: Sask. blames maintenance for firefighting planes left unused 2 hours ago Duration 2:16 Saskatchewan's Opposition is criticizing the provincial government's use of water bombers. The province said some planes were out of service due to mandatory inspections, firefighting fatigue, and a lack of available parts. In a statement on Wednesday, the Saskatchewan government said the two water bombers were grounded due to required structural inspections and the two air tankers were not used due to a lack of available parts. It also said two other water bombers were unavailable for five days due to mandatory inspections that came sooner than inspected due to heavy usage. "This is a normal part of operating any air fleet," it said of the inspections and mechanical deficiencies. "Furthermore, there is a national, critical shortage of qualified and experienced aircraft maintenance engineers (AMEs). We have filled some vacancies by partnering with schools to fill positions with apprentices to build our capacity in the future." That shortage was why the Dash 8-Q400AT air tanker was bought, the statement said. Responding earlier this week to criticism of that plane's lack of usage, Saskatchewan Public Safety Minister Tim McLeod said its pilots hadn't yet been certified to fly it. Trespassing allegations On Wednesday, the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) announced that its front-line staff had reported "a group of individuals were found attempting to trespass at SPSA air operations base in La Ronge, disrupting the work of staff and increasing the risk of endangering themselves and others." "At any time — but especially during a wildfire crisis — it is unacceptable for anyone to interfere with wildfire and emergency personnel operations," the SPSA said. Soon after that, the Saskatchewan NDP released a statement that seemed to connect that announcement with the Opposition party. On Monday, Carla Beck shot a video outside of the La Ronge Airport calling attention to the grounded planes, which the NDP released on social media the following day. On Wednesday, the NDP called the SPSA statement a "desperate, ridiculous, and a blatant attempt to distract from the fact that nearly half of their air tankers were secretly grounded during the worst wildfires in a decade." Later Wednesday, during a daily update on wildfires in the province, SPSA's president and fire commissioner Marlo Pritchard clarified that the alleged trespassing was a separate incident and did not involve the NDP video shoot. He said it involved a group of people approaching and trying to walk through a gate to the airport during the late afternoon on Monday. Pritchard also said one of the grounded air tankers should be operational by the end of June, but did not provide a timeline for the other three aircraft. Moderate weather helps firefighters: SPSA The SPSA also said during the update that moderate weather had dampened the growth of the fires. There were 17 wildfires active in the province as of the update , with four listed as contained, four not contained, seven undergoing assessment, and two with firefighters focusing on protecting valuable buildings and infrastructure. "None of the four significant fires have grown in any shape or form or have posed any new risks or threats," SPSA vice president of operations Steve Roberts said. Five communities in the province are still under evacuation orders: Cumberland House, Creighton, Denare Beach, East Trout Lake and Whelan Bay. Pritchard said about 500 homes have been lost in the fires. About half of those are classified as primary residences, while the rest are cabins and mobile homes.
CTV News
16-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Sask. NDP say new water bomber grounded due to lack of pilots, province says training to resume in July
Conair Dash 8-400AT Airtankers are parked on the tarmac in Abbotsford, B.C., Friday, April. 26, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns The Saskatchewan NDP says the province nearly lost one of its brand-new water bombers when flames breached the La Ronge airport earlier this month – due to no qualified pilots being able to fly it. Citing publicly available flight information, the Opposition NDP says the Conair Dash 8-Q400AT airtanker was delivered to the province on May 30 – flying from Conair's facility in Abbotsford, B.C. to the La Ronge area. The bomber has not flown since. The NDP says this is because the province has not hired or trained a pilot to operate it. Furthermore, the NDP say that sources claim the plane was nearly lost on June 2 – as personnel had to physically push it to another area of the La Ronge airport to prevent it from being lost to the flames. 'While people were fleeing their homes and communities were burning, the Sask. Party left a brand new and badly needed air tanker sitting on the tarmac,' NDP MLA Nicole Sarauer said during an event Monday morning. 'The moment this plane arrived; the government should have brought it into action dumping water on the fires burning our communities.' Sask. water bomber flight log (Courtesy: Saskatchewan NDP) Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Tim McLeod said he first learned of the NDP's accusations on Monday, and called it 'unfortunate' that the Opposition is choosing to 'politicize a wildfire state of emergency and tragedy.' 'This is not a situation where we had resources that were available that were left on the table or in this case left on the tarmac,' McLeod said. According to minister, due to the plane arriving once the state of emergency was declared – a decision was made to reallocate the pilots that were training to fly the new aircraft. 'The first of those planes did arrive after we had already declared a state of emergency on or about May 30, the reality of the situation is we were already in a state of emergency, the pilots that had been training to operate that plane had received all of the simulator training that they could until that time,' McLeod said. However, he added that to comply with Transport Canada regulations – the requirement is that the pilots would still need to train in the physical aircraft before it could be used. 'The operational decision was made not to remove those four pilots from active duty fighting fires and protecting our communities so that they could train on the new plane, but rather to continue protecting our communities and saving lives,' McLeod said. He added that it remains a primary focus to have the four pilots complete the training and to use the aircraft during the 2025 wildfire season. Responding to the question of why the province couldn't hire other personnel to pilot the new plane – SPSA vice president Steve Roberts said that all available pilots trained to operate the Conair Dash 8-Q400AT airtanker, are currently doing so. 'Everybody who's certified to fly one of those aircraft in a firefighting role is flying that aircraft in a firefighting role,' he said. 'That's the bottom line is these are not generic positions. These are specialized positions on a specialized aircraft type they can't be hired off the street.' Rogers says the agency's training program is expected to continue in July.
CTV News
16-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Sask. NDP say new water bomber almost lost in La Ronge wildfire due to lack of pilots
Conair Dash 8-400AT Airtankers are parked on the tarmac in Abbotsford, B.C., Friday, April. 26, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns The Saskatchewan NDP says the province nearly lost one of its brand-new water bombers when flames breached the La Ronge airport earlier this month – due to no qualified pilots being able to fly it. Citing publicly available flight information, the Opposition NDP says the Conair Dash 8-Q400AT airtanker was delivered to the province on May 30 – flying from Conair's facility in Abbotsford, B.C. to the La Ronge area. The bomber has not flown since. The NDP says this is because the province has not hired or trained a pilot to operate it. Furthermore, the NDP say that sources claim the plane was nearly lost on June 2 – as personnel had to physically push it to another area of the La Ronge airport to prevent it from being lost to the flames. 'While people were fleeing their homes and communities were burning, the Sask. Party left a brand new and badly needed air tanker sitting on the tarmac,' NDP MLA Nicole Sarauer said during an event Monday morning. 'The moment this plane arrived; the government should have brought it into action dumping water on the fires burning our communities.' Sask. water bomber flight log (Courtesy: Saskatchewan NDP) Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Tim McLeod said he first learned of the NDP's accusations on Monday, and called it 'unfortunate' that the Opposition is choosing to 'politicize a wildfire state of emergency and tragedy.' 'This is not a situation where we had resources that were available that were left on the table or in this case left on the tarmac,' McLeod said. According to minister, due to the plane arriving once the state of emergency was declared – a decision was made to reallocate the pilots that were training to fly the new aircraft. 'The first of those planes did arrive after we had already declared a state of emergency on or about May 30, the reality of the situation is we were already in a state of emergency, the pilots that had been training to operate that plane had received all of the simulator training that they could until that time,' McLeod said. However, he added that to comply with Transport Canada regulations – the requirement is that the pilots would still need to train in the physical aircraft before it could be used. 'The operational decision was made not to remove those four pilots from active duty fighting fires and protecting our communities so that they could train on the new plane, but rather to continue protecting our communities and saving lives,' McLeod said. He added that it remains a primary focus to have the four pilots complete the training and to use the aircraft during the 2025 wildfire season. Responding to the question of why the province couldn't hire other personnel to pilot the new plane – SPSA vice president Steve Rogers said that all available pilots trained to operate the Conair Dash 8-Q400AT airtanker, are currently doing so. 'Everybody who's certified to fly one of those aircraft in a firefighting role is flying that aircraft in a firefighting role,' he said. 'That's the bottom line is these are not generic positions. These are specialized positions on a specialized aircraft type they can't be hired off the street.' Rogers says the agency's training program is expected to continue in July.
