A wildland firefighter in Spain told us about this video featuring the BRIF (reinforcement brigade forest fire). It covers their training and shows the firefighters working on fires.
The unit is celebrating their 21st anniversary after being created by former members of hotshot crews in 1994. Since then it has grown into 10 bases staffed by 600 firefighters.
In 2012 we had another video about this organization that impressed us with their skill in using flappers to suppress brush fires.
The video shows the Air Tractor 802 and the amphibious 802 Fireboss operating in Spain.
From Waypoint Airmed & Rescue, dated May 26, 2014:
A pilot was killed when the AT802 plane she was flying crashed into a hillside during a firefighting mission in Almeria, Spain, at around 14:20 hrs on 25 May. The 40-year-old woman, named in reports as Sonia Morales Martínez, was part of an INFOCA team tackling a wildfire in the Sierra de Los Filabres in the Serón area. INFOCA released a statement of condolence to the pilot’s family, noting that she had extensive experience in aerial firefighting including over 5,000 hours’ flight time on this model of plane. She also served as a flight instructor.
Witnesses reported seeing unusual movements in the plane’s tail before it fell to the ground and burst into flames. It is believed that the pilot was killed on impact.
A Spanish language article about the accident can be found at ABCandalucia.
Our sincere condolences go out to the friends, co-workers,and family of Ms. Martinez.
A person with the handle of @carlesdumont has been tweeting information today about a fire that we believe is in the Catalonia region of Spain. (I hope the pictures are visible below.) Google translated the person’s Twitter description as, “Prevention and suppression of forest fires; Palamos & Playa Del Carmen”.
El foc arrivant a #Calonge, molta precaució!! #IFVall_llobrega #incendis pic.twitter.com/lZABnEp62A
— 289-GI-014 ||*|| DUI (@carlesdumont) March 16, 2014
A warning was issued for boats to give a wide birth to the water scooping air tankers working the fire.
@cFocas de @magramagob a punt per carregar al Port de #Palamos. pic.twitter.com/8XoEOnNHvm
— 289-GI-014 ||*|| DUI (@carlesdumont) March 16, 2014
MT @Gironanoticies: 400 people evacuated due to #wildfire in Vall-llobrega, #Spain. [CATALÀN] http://t.co/rCuUlvSIRa pic.twitter.com/Hp0IN4KROq
— The Disaster Channel (@DisasterChannL) March 16, 2014
Molt bona aquesta companys, arabtoca descansar, salut!! #iiff #incendis #sabadell @MaerBombers pic.twitter.com/lrku1nsaYE
— 289-GI-014 ||*|| DUI (@carlesdumont) December 22, 2013
A video report, in Spanish, of a fire in Spain has some interesting visuals.
Airbus Military has begun tests near Cordoba, Spain of a C295 aircraft modified as an air tanker. The flights went well, according to the company, and further tests are planned in the near future to make a more detailed analysis of the C295 as a firefighter aircraft.
The C295 looks similar to the C-27J but it has less impressive performance. According to Wikipedia (see the links above) the payload capacity of the C295 is about 5,000 pounds less and the engines have 57 percent of the horsepower of the C-27J. It would probably carry about 400 gallons less retardant than the C-27J, with a capacity of around 1,400 to 1,700 gallons is our guess.
Rumor has it that France is considering replacing their fleet of Conair Turbocats, which are retrofitted Grumman S-2 Trackers.
Thanks go out to Walter
Another video has been produced about the 43rd Grupo (Group) Firefighting Squadron of the Spanish Air Force commissioned in 1971 when the first Canadair CL-215 arrived in the country. During four decades and 150,000 flight hours, the Squadron has suffered 9 fatal accidents, with a total of 15 casualties and the loss of 25% of its fleet. War-fighting in peace time. Ten years have passed since that last accident, and this video honors those young aviators who gave it all.
Other 43 Grupo videos can be found at Wildfire Today.
2011 was an especially bad year for aerial firefighters in Spain. At least 11 firefighters died in accidents involving helicopters and a single engine air tanker.
Thanks go out to Hidros
The video below features teams of bomberos (firefighters) in Spain who conduct prescribed fires and educate local residents about fire prevention. Their organization is called Equipos de Prevención Integral de Incendios Forestales (EPRIF), or Integrated Forest Fire Prevention Team.
It is interesting to see how firefighters in another part of the world accomplish the same tasks as those in North America, but with a different twist. We thank them for making the English language version of this video.
SPANISH Prescribed Burn Team – EPRIF from Madrid on Vimeo.
When we wrote about a fire engine near Jaen, Spain being used for purposes other than suppressing wildland fires, we asked for other photos of engines multi-tasking. Jesús Morcillo i Julià sent us the photo above with this description:
I’m a wildland firefighter in Valencian Community, in the East of Spain.
The service where I work is “Unitat de Brigades d’Emergència de la Generalitat Valenciana” or simply UBE.
The UBE is the essencial emergency service where valencian wildland firefighters are assigned and our mission is wildland firefighting and other emergency actions, mainly in the administrative area of the Valencian Country.
As you can see, during the off-season we and our vehicles are destinated to restore normalcy after the frequent snowstorms.
I hope you like the pic. It was taken in the Penyagolosa’s Natural Park, a really beautiful spot.
That’s all. Congrats for your very interesting website.
Thanks Jesús.
A new follower of @WildfireToday on Twitter, @m_sanchez_ruiz, posted the above photo Friday with this caption:
Vehículos contra incendios adaptados con palas quitanieves del dispositivo INFOCA. Esta semana han intervenido en Jaén.
Google Translate translated it like this:
Fire Vehicles fitted with snow plows INFOCA device. This week intervened in Jaén.
I’m thinking the photo was taken near Jaen in southern Spain. Wikipedia says the elevation there is 573 m (1,880 ft). A little research into “INFOCA”, again with the help of Google Translate, yielded this:
Canario Plan for Civil Protection and Emergency Management for Forest Fires
We would like to see other photos of fire vehicles being re-purposed during the off-season.
The video below shows something that I didn’t think was possible — fighting a brush fire with flappers. I have used them on grass and leaf litter fires, but never imagined that they could be an effective tool on a brush fire. However in this video which shows firefighters in Spain, they have the assistance of water drops from a helicopter.
It is an interesting video that features a helicopter-based wildland firefighting crew. Here is the description that is on YouTube, translated from Spanish by Google Translate:
Diary of a firefighter
A brief tour of the work of the fire fighters of BRIF (reinforcement Brigades forest fire) from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment.
MAGRAMA currently has ten BRIF service during summer campaigns, distributed all over the country, and five smaller BRIF during the winter-spring season, in the north and west of the peninsula during the winter also BRIF perform preventive tasks ranging from cleaning up tracks controlled burning. Their bases are located in areas of high fire risk or high forest wealth that must be protected. At the same time, seeking to achieve strategic locations by helicopter anywhere in the State within a reasonable time.
The video also has some footage of a fire whirl or fire tornado, however it is much smaller than some of the others we have reported on. But still, I would not want to be standing next to it.
Thanks go out to Juan