Last weekend, an aircraft fitted with thermal imaging equipment, based at 502 squadron in Montijo, carried out missions over the countryside to detect fires and alert ground-based firefighters.
The patrols carried out by an EADS C-295M aircraft detected fires and hot spots so that firefighters could tackle them before they got out of control.
During 48-hours of missions, shifts of flight crews conducted reconnaissance and assessment missions, taking into account the forest fire risk level at various locations.
According to the information from the Ministry of Internal Administration, the missions flew over "places with high potential for re-ignition and triggered preventive actions, avoiding complex situations and identified new fires with firefighting teams immediate activated."
The EADS C-295M aircraft of 502 Squadron has equipment that allows the detection of hot spots using thermal imaging - which can be used day and night.
The Air Force crews spotted several locations, "with high potential for re-ignition," and transmitted the coordinates to the National Relief Operations Command which sent teams to these areas. The information was analysed by National Civil Protection Authority personnel on the plane.
Until the last day of October, it is prohibited to light bonfires and to drive tractors, machines and other heavy-duty vehicles without a fire extinguisher.
This operation will continue for as long as Minister, Eduardo Cabrita deems it effective.
The missions were carried out in coordination with the Ministries of Defence, Agriculture and with the new structure of the Integrated System of Rural Fire Management under its new chief, Tiago Martins da Oliveira.
With rain due on November 1st, the Air Force may well be stood down, with the one question remaining: why was this type of operation not commissioned during a summer in which 110 people died in fires that swept across swathes of central Portugal?
