At the weekend, the army’s assistance mission to fight the forest fire in the Schneeberg massif came to an end.
Since October 25, two Black Hawks, two Augusta Bell 212s, two Alouette IIIs and, since last Monday, the Pilatus PC-6 (Militär Aktuell reported) have been deployed. The fixed-wing aircraft with thermal imaging camera, which has been in use since the beginning of the week, also supported the emergency services with aerial images in order to pinpoint the hot spots. Together with helicopters from the Ministry of the Interior and support from Slovakia, Italy and the German air force, the air forces of the Austrian Armed Forces were in continuous operation against the forest fire. Defense Minister Tanner: “Since the beginning of the operation, the Armed Forces have dropped more than four million liters of extinguishing water over the numerous sources of the fire. This required over 2,400 landings. Our servicemen and women have once again demonstrated their extraordinary ability to be on the ground and help when others urgently need us.” In total, the air force flew almost 275 flight hours. In addition, 135 winch missions were carried out and more than 240 people were transported directly to fight fires.
“The coordination of the international forces in the air, which was led by our specialists from the Austrian Armed Forces, worked perfectly. I would like to thank our servicemen and women as well as all the emergency services for their tireless and courageous efforts,” added the Minister.
