Helicopter in action: several forest fires in Upper Valais
Air Zermatt was called out to three forest fires in Upper Valais within a very short space of time on Monday evening. Thanks to the swift deployment of the fire brigades and helicopters, the worst was prevented.
The first mission took an Air Zermatt helicopter to St. Niklaus, where a forest fire had broken out. Thanks to the rapid intervention of Air Zermatt, the fire was quickly brought under control and prevented from spreading further.
Further alerts followed shortly afterwards: Forest fires were also reported in Blatten near Naters and in Oberems. At times, three Air Zermatt helicopters were deployed to fight the flames.
Air Zermatt had already been called out in the past few days due to forest fires in Täsch and Varen.
Operation with Bambi Buckets
The fires are extinguished from the air with so-called Bambi Buckets. These are extinguishing bags that hold around 800 litres of water. The extinguishing water can be dropped over the source of the fire. This method allows an efficient approach to firefighting.
Air Zermatt liaises closely with the local fire services and, if necessary, flies members of the fire services close to the source of the fire.
