Brazil News
| BRASILIA – The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) announced Sunday that it sent a plane to Chile with 50 firefighters to help that country fight the over 50 wildfires now burning. The Hercules C-150, like the one pictured below, carries firefighters from the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Natural Resources (IBAMA).
Brazilian Air Force C-150 Hercules (Photo: ninja-brasil.blogspot.com)
The aircraft took off from Brasilia Air Base on Saturday night flying in the direction of Concepcion. The city, which lies about 500 km (311 miles) south of the capital Santiago, is in the region of Biobio, one of the areas hardest hit by fires in recent days.
The brigade will spend about 20 days in Chile to help fight the fires as well as help plan fire prevention.
“If the Chilean authorities request an extension, we are willing to serve,” said the chief of the Specialized Center of the National System for Prevention and Combat of Forest Fires of IBAMA, Jose Carlos Mendes de Moraes, according to the FAB press release.
The group has experience fighting large wildfires, such as those in the state of Roraima in 1998 and 2002.
Brazil's support to Chile also has the assistance of the Civil Defense, which will bear the costs of paying the professionals, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which coordinates the actions.
In Chile, the fires have intensified in recent days. On Friday, one of the fires caused six deaths, all of them consumed by fire, and left four injured and two missing.
In the last ten days, more than 50 fires burned 50,000 hectares (193 square miles) of forests, said the FAB statement. The worst affected areas are Biobio, Maule and Araucanians are located 500 km (311 miles) to 700 km (435 miles) from Santiago.
Read also: More Articles from Brazil Dispatch
Source(s) for this article: terra.com.br
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