There are 12 helicopters of the Armed Forces with relative flight crew engaged in putting out the fires and bringing to safety the people who have been trapped by the flames.
Six are from the Army Aviation, one HH-412A and one HH-205A in readiness from the Viterbo base, two HH-412A from Cagliari Elmas and Lamezia Terme and two UH-90A from Rimini and Casarsa della Delizia (PN). To these are added a SH-212 of the Navy, in Catania, three HH-139 of the Air Force in Trapani Birgi and Decimomannu and two NH 500 of the Carabinieri in readiness at the carabinieri units of Rome-Urbe and Rieti .
The air force airports of Naples Capodichino, Sigonella and Trapani Birgi were also made available for the redeployment of fire brigade aircraft.
The Armed Forces are operating in these hours in Sicily but also in the other areas of central and southern Italy affected by the fire emergency, in synergy and in support of the Civil Protection.
So far, more than 30 interventions have been carried out by the crews of the Armed Forces, including the one that has allowed the rescue of 15 tourists hunted down by the flames in Cala Grottazza Calampiso, in the municipality of San Vito Lo Capo, identifying from above, despite the thick smoke , a safe route for exfiltration from the area.
La Forest Firefighting Campaign (AIB) 2023 will continue until 30 September, thus consolidating the collaboration, which has already been in place for years, between the Armed Forces, national body of firefighters and civil protection (PROCIV) to make the fight against forest fires more effective and incisive.
The commitment of the Armed Forces in fighting fires is one of the capabilities that the Defense makes available to the national community on a daily basis in cases of public disasters, where purely military assets can also be used profitably for civilian needs, operating in close synergy and in support of various state agencies and bodies.
The forest firefighting activity is carried out on the basis of the agreement stipulated between the Ministry of Defense and the Department of Civil Protection as part of the AIB campaign, which also provides for the unified air operations center (COAU), as the coordinator of interventions in the event of an emergency.
