September 20, 2024, marked the beginning of an aid mission for Ecocopter+Helisul and Airbus Foundation, in their joint fight against the devastating forest fires in Bolivia, which currently mainly affect the regions of Santa Cruz.

The H145 helicopter, equipped with cutting-edge firefighting technology, began its journey to the heart of Bolivia’s Chiquitania, a region besieged by flames. After two days of crossing, the aircraft is already operating in Bolivian territory, playing a crucial role in firefighting operations.

On the occasion, the Bolivian president, Luis Arce, indicated that the air aid arrives in Bolivia “within the framework of the Joint European Civil Protection Mechanism, and with this the Gaps of Hope plan in ground combat and the Plan of Guardian Air Mitigation to attack the fire by air,” he said.

Operation Guardian is a government plan designed to fight fires from the sky. To date, nearly seven million hectares have been burned in the last four months, which has forced the highland authorities to declare a national disaster. In this context, the National Forestry Corporation, CONAF, continued with air aid to Bolivia through the H145 of the Ecocopter + Helisul fleet that was already fighting in Bolivian territory.

This helicopter, equipped with a Bambi Bucket with a capacity of 1,230 liters of water, promises to be a strategic ally in the battle against fire, thanks to its versatility and loading capacity.

“We are part of international cooperation in these critical moments and the emergency that our neighboring country is going through moves us to be part of the deployment and air support to extinguish the flames,” said Francisco Arriagada, Ecocopter+Helisul.

The aircraft has been operating in various Santa Cruz municipalities such as Roboré, Concepción, Ascensión de Guarayos and San Ignacio de Velasco, areas where the largest number of active fires have been concentrated.

Meanwhile, two other Airbus H125 helicopters, during the months of August and September, traveled to Brazil for work fighting forest fires and other regular operations carried out during the Chile-Brazil off-season, and which were added to the permanent fleet. who works in that country. “These missions reflect the leadership and capacity of our fleet to respond effectively to emergency situations in Latam and plan against forest fire seasons in this part of the continent,” emphasizes Arriagada.