A Kamov-32 heavy bomber helicopter reinforced the fleet on August 1

As of yesterday, the Algarve’s Civil Protection has a helicopter based in Faro, increasing the number of aerial means to combat rural fires in the Algarve to six, announced the Regional Command.

In a statement, the Regional Emergency and Civil Protection Command of the Algarve said that the availability of air resources to fight rural fires had increased with the arrival of a Kamov-32 heavy bomber helicopter at the “new temporary Air Resources Centre of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC)”, next to Faro’sRegion Supply Market (MARF)”.

The Algarve’s Civil Protection now has six aircraft assigned to “the aerial fleet that operates in the region, including rural firefighting planes and helicopters”.

The helicopter, which has been at the service of ANEPC since June 21, has so far been stationed at Air Base number 11 in Beja, as its intended base, the Permanent Service Helicopter Base (BHSP) in the Algarve, at the Municipal Heliport of Loulé, is still being expanded and requalified.

Stressing the “importance of the proximity of these differentiated means for an expanded combat in areas at greater risk of fire in the barrocal and mountains of the eastern Algarve over the next few months”, the regional command refers that the delay in completing the works in Loulé led to the installation of the Faro Heliport (Alternative Municipal Heliport of Loulé) in Estoi, in the municipality of Faro.

The Civil Protection of the Algarve assures that this location “maintains the criteria of regional centrality, accessibility and operational security”.

In addition, the installation of air transport in Faro will also benefit from “existing infrastructure, easily adapted to logistical needs, and which got the approval of the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC)”, with a “lower execution cost and greater speed of readiness”, it concludes.