The Colombian Air Force with its UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter of the Air Combat Command No.5, configured with the Bambi Bucket system, has carried out 61 water drops to date of 148,000 liters of water mixed with 50 gallons of retardant liquid, on the focus of the forest fire of The Peak Natural Park on the island of Providencia.
In the same way, in order to support the firefighting efforts of the ground, in this difficult-to-access area, the Military Transport Air Command- CATAM, sent a Boeing-737 aircraft for the transfer from Santa Marta to San Andrés, of 30 Firefighters of the National Army, 19 Firefighters of the department of Magdalena and 17 of the National Police. In the same aircraft of the Institution, a trained dog of the National Army Fire Brigade named Dakar was in the same way transported to San Andrés, which would conduct search and rescue functions if necessary.
With these new aids, the Colombian Air Force, together with the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management and firefighters from different parts of the country, are working hard in a coordinated way to eliminate in the shortest possible time the fire that hits this natural reserve, preventing the spread of flames both on the hill and to the nearby inhabitants.
Source: CACOM-5 and CATAM Strategic Communications
