MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguayan Air Force C-130 back from firefighting mission in Paraguay

The FAU aircraft dropped US-developed “Guardian” boxed with 1,000 liters of water each

A Uruguayan Air Force (FAU) Hercules C-130 four-engined turboprop aircraft landed back in Montevideo Monday after participating in a firefighting mission in Paraguay. The cooperation consisted mainly of dropping firefighting boxes in the northern Paraguayan Chaco where over 180,000 hectares were engulfed by the flames.

Mission Chief Williams Veistaras explained that this was an unprecedented operation since it was the first time the FAU carried out the night launching of US-developed “Guardian” boxes to extinguish fires. The operation consisted of bringing these boxes from Asunción to Mariscal Estigarribia and from there to the area affected by the fire.

The boxes were assembled on the ground, loaded with 1,000 liters of water each, and 30,000 liters of water were dropped in three flights. The amount of water dropped depended on the size of the fire outbreak and the information provided by personnel on the ground, it was also explained.

The Uruguayan crew of eight faced difficulties from thick native vegetation and reduced visibility due to smoke. The operation was carried out during the night, at the request of the Paraguayan Air Force. The operation was carried out as part of the System of Cooperation between the American Air Forces (SICOFAA).

The Paraguayan Air Force was “infinitely grateful” for the Uruguayan help in the “pressing emergency” caused by the relentless fires, said Paraguay's Defense Minister Óscar González, who also underlined the FAU's valuable firefighting tool to face the crisis mainly in the departments of Boquerón, Presidente Hayes, Canindeyú, Amambay, San Pedro, Concepción and Alto Paraguay.