Forest fire surveillance by air is an important part of the work of detecting fires in forests and land – before the fires grow large. In 2022, these flights discovered 105 forest fires in Sweden.
“Forest fire surveillance by air is a very important resource for the municipal rescue service, and above all in sparsely populated areas,” says Stefan Andersson, forest fire expert at MSB.
An important function or reinforcement for municipal emergency services is flying resources. It is then about:
- forest fire surveillance by air,
- firefighting helicopters,
- scooping aircraft for firefighting.
Forest fire monitoring by air is carried out so that fires in forests and land can be detected early. Then the fires can be extinguished already at an early stage and prevented from spreading, which limits damage to forests and land. These flying resources can also guide emergency personnel on the ground to find the fire.
“The southeastern parts of the country had a long forest fire season this year, with several periods of extremely high fire risk. It can be seen in the statistics where Kalmar county registered both the most flight hours and the most discovered fires,” says Stefan Andersson.
Statistics from 2022
In 2022, flights for forest fire surveillance in Sweden discovered 105 fires in forests and land. In total, these aircraft worked 3,441 hours in the air. This can be compared to 2021, when the aircraft detected 74 fires and the total flight time was then 3,450 hours.
This year’s flight hours also include work on a further 28 fires where the fire-monitoring flights were directed by SOS Alarm to help locate or provide an overview of forest fires that were discovered in other ways.
“Forest fire surveillance by air is a very important resource to be able to detect fires early and also to be able to give directions to the municipal rescue service. They fulfil an important function in the early detection and alerting of fires, but also in being able to contribute to operational work by guiding the emergency personnel on the ground. It is something that may be needed when the terrain and vegetation are difficult to access or when the driving time for the rescue service is long,” says Stefan Andersson.
The task is to detect fires in forests and land through surveillance from the air. The flight can also guide emergency response personnel on the ground if terrain and vegetation are difficult to access. Aircraft for forest fire monitoring work on behalf of the respective county administration. The county administrations apply for funds from MSB to be able to carry out the work.
Firefighting helicopters
When fires in forests and land have been detected, emergency response personnel of the rescue service may need to reinforce the extinguishing work with helicopters that attack the fire from the air. MSB has helicopters on standby to be able to support municipal rescue services and to be able to extinguish or limit fires at an early stage. This support has existed since summer 2019.
Scooping aircraft for firefighting
When fires in forests and land have been detected, emergency response personnel may need to reinforce the extinguishing work with scooping aircraft that attack the fire from the air. MSB has scooping aircraft on standby so that they can support municipal rescue services and be able to extinguish or limit fires at an early stage. Scooping aircraft have the capacity to drop a greater amount of water than a helicopter. This support has existed since the summer of 2020. Two of the four aircraft are a resource within the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (rescEU) and these two are mostly financed by the EU.
28 October 2022 07:30
Source: MSB
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