Australian specialist fire fighting helicopters from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland have joined the fight to extinguish wildfires ravaging Greece this month.
The Bell214ST helicopters have been contracted by McDermott Aviation and were captured helping fight recent fires in Mandra, Attica.
82 wildfires are currently raging across Greece, including on the islands of Rhodes, Corfu and Evia. On Rhodes, the wildfire sparked Greece’s biggest-ever evacuation operation in history.
The water bombing helicopters can been seen using a specialised fast fill system to scoop water and target wildfires from above.
This is the fourth fire season where McDermott Aviation have sent helicopters to support Greece throughout the summer.
In 2021, McDermott Aviation was asked by Greek industrial conglomerate, Mytilineos, to supply four Australian water-bombing helicopters and 20 crew to help fight the devastating fires which ripped through Evia island.
At the time, the helicopters and their crew conducted 155 flight hours, 986 water-bombing operations and more than 2,460 tonnes of water was dropped.
