In the municipality of Melgar, department of Tolima, a forest fire of rapid spread was reported, which left approximately 25 hectares of vegetation burnt; the emergency call of the community, added to the ground work of the Fire Brigade of this municipality and the timely reaction of the crews of the Colombian Aerospace Force, led to successfully extinguish the conflagration.
The effort in the same way had the support of the Colombian National Army and the Colombian Civil Defense, a joint effort that prevented the flames from reaching both the residential area and the facilities of the Sumapaz Technical School, where the students were taking class. Regarding the environmental emergency, Mr. Colonel Commander of the Air Combat Command No.4, said “We are totally working for you to counteract the forest fires, a product of the heat wave that this region of the country is going through.”
On board a HUEY-II helicopter, 5,300 liters of water, mixed with 8 gallons of retardant liquid, were spread over the flames, thus putting an end to the flames, for his part, Mr. Iván López, Secretary of Government of Melgar said: “Today we had a very important emergency since it took place near the surroundings of an school, the flames were very close, fortunately the students could be evacuated and that focus of fire that was very heavy could be extinguished.
Through this type of humanitarian and environmental missions, the Colombian Aerospace Force ratifies the commitment to life, the environment and the security of Colombians, following the guidelines of the Ayacucho Strategic Campaign Plan, by providing support in a timely manner to face any contingency to work for the protection of the inhabitants.
Source: Office of Public Communications CACOM 4
