Super Puma Helicopter, Granted by SNF, Contributed Significantly to this Year’s Fire-fighting Efforts in Greece

Photo showing a firefighting helicopter during its flight

At the conclusion of this year’s firefighting period, the Hellenic Fire Department’s Aerial Service reported that the Super Puma helicopter acquired with a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) in 2005 was heavily used in combating this year’s fires, completing more than 200 hours of flight.

In addition to its firefighting duties, the helicopter has been used for a number of rescue, identification, and other missions, such as air ambulance services in collaboration with the National Center for Emergency Care (EKAV), forest firefighting using a helicopter bucket, search and rescue using hoists, and transport of firefighters. Recently, the Aerial Service used the Super Puma helicopter in a successful search and rescue operation for a citizen who was injured in the area of Nafpaktia.

Since the beginning of its grant-making activity, the SNF has supported the Hellenic Fire Department through a series of grants, culminating in a major SNF grant of €25 million, which was announced last July in the wake of the devastating fires that hit the country. The grant will be used to meet the needs of the firefighters and will also cover maintenance and potential procurement of equipment, as well as emergency prevention and response training programs.