The first day of the mission took place this Saturday (02/11)
Air Force Agency, by Lieutenant Johny Lucas
On Saturday morning (February 11), the C-130 Hercules aircraft of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) carried out the first mission to fight forest fires in the city of Concepción, Chile, in the center-south of the country. On this first day, five take-offs were made and 60,000 liters of water were launched.
At the moment, it is estimated that there are more than 300 focuses of fire, with more than 40,000 hectares burned. There have been 26 deaths, more than 1,200 people injured, 3,000 people homeless, and more than 1,100 homes destroyed, in addition to more than 270,000 hectares of land affected. There is also a new “weather alert” due to extreme heat in the Maule and Ñuble regions.
C-130 Hercules
The aircraft operated by the First Squadron of the First Transport Group (1°/1° GT) – Gordo Squadron, uses the MAFFS (Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System) fire fighting system and is capable of carrying 12,000 liters of water. The equipment, which weighs 770 kilos, has two tubes that project water down the rear ramp of the plane at a height of approximately 150 feet (about 46 meters).
Photos: Fat Squadron