Smoke lies like a haze over the firefighting airport in Castelo Branco in central Portugal, as four scooping firefighting planes take off on Friday morning. Two of them are Swedish and part of the EU's emergency response effort.
A gigantic fire, which started on August 13, rages a bit north of the airport – 28.5 miles in circumference and on 71,300 hectares. But much of the work is about quickly extinguishing the new small fires that constantly arise. On Thursday, 80 were discovered, where all but one were extinguished within 90 minutes.
But one got away, says Magnus Eriksson from the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, who is responsible for the Swedish group of seven people.
Gigantic effort
Thus, the firefighters have two active fires to handle. They do not get particularly much help from the weather, with a clear blue sky and 34 degrees, even if the wind seems to have subsided.
It's a high-pressure system that's still here. But on Sunday, it might actually get a little rain, says Eriksson.
1,800 firefighters and 615 fire trucks participated in the extinguishing work on Thursday. 52 airborne missions were carried out.
These are extreme dimensions. It's incredibly large in scope.
Great effect
Jostein Eriksen is one of the Swedish pilots. He flew one of the firefighting planes from Bulgaria, where they previously helped out. When two alarms sound at the airport, he should be in the air ten minutes later, compared to the response time of 180 minutes at his regular workplace at Skavsta Airport.
It's educational for us who fly in Sweden, he says.
The four planes position themselves over the nearby dam where they, in a foam cloud, fill the water tanks, before aiming for the mountain range in the northwest, which is the focus on Friday. The effect is seen directly when three tons of water times four are released over the flames.
Then it's basically done, says Eriksen.
But we don't extinguish first and foremost, but lay water to dampen. Then it becomes easier for the firefighters on the ground to extinguish, he continues.
"Not like SAS"
It's not a risk-free job. It's about having the right speed and engine power, adapting to the height, and avoiding flying into obscuring smoke.
It's not like flying for SAS or Norwegian, where you fly from A to B and can relax. Here it's manual flying all the time, you have to think it's fun to fly, he says.
Gustav Sjöholm/TT
Facts: RescEU
TT
RescEU is the EU's strategic reserve that can be deployed in disasters. The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency has procured the four Swedish planes from Saab, which are connected to RescEU. The EU thus pays for most of the planes that Sweden hosts. The EU is expanding the capability and will purchase twelve brand new planes to be placed in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, and Greece, which will be ready from 2028.
