Portugal Wildfires: Morocco sends Canadair planes to help in battling blaze

With massive wildfires burning thousands of hectares in Portugal, Morocco has responded to an emergency call for help by sending two firefighting planes to this European country combatting a series of fires amid another heatwave.

Morocco’s decision to send Canadair planes was announced Monday by the Interior ministry and confirmed by Lisbon which said it activated a bilateral cooperation mechanism after two aircraft of its water-bomber fleet suffered a mechanical failure.

Portugal had initially reached out to Spain, but the latter was unable to provide firefighting planes due to raging fires in its own territory.

Wildfires are common during the summer season in the Mediterranean region. The North African Kingdom has a fleet of eight Canadair planes which have proven to be a key player in fighting forest fires globally.

These amphibious planes are specifically designed for tight manoeuvring at low altitudes and airspeeds over difficult mountainous terrain. A Canadair spends, on average, 50% more-time battling forest fires per mission than other aerial fire- fighting aircraft by using water sources in the vicinity of a fire.

On average, Canadair can stay on the fire for more than 3 hours at a time and only return to base for refuelling approximately 3 times per day. This provides more than 12 hours of active firefighting whereas other aircraft return to base for refuel/ reload on average every 2 hours.

Furthermore, Canadair delivers over 400 tons of water/foam on a typical day, averaging 6 rotations per hour, at 6 tons per drop over a 12-hour period.