With the support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) as part of a €25 million grant to the Hellenic Fire Corps, ten members of the service’s Special Forestry Operations Units traveled to Spain in mid-June to attend a helicopter forest fire fighting training program. There they gained experience in, among other things, firefighting strategies and tactics, boarding and disembarking from a hovering helicopter safely, and using a helicopter’s fire bucket.
In addition to educational programs, the SNF grant to the Hellenic Fire Corps also includes the construction of the new SNF Hellenic Fire Corps Training Center in Nea Makri, in Attica, as well as the procurement of personal protective equipment for firefighters.
The training was conducted on the premises of Angocillo Airport in Logroño by Pegasus Aero Group, a forest fire training organization officially authorized by the Spanish government.