Fires continue to burn the Amazon rainforest at a record rate. Caused by the burning of crop fields, the outbreaks of fire have already razed around 750,000 hectares of forest and crops. Brazil has declared a state of emergency in the region.
Firefighters and soldiers across the region are trying to fight the flames, but the resources are proving to be thin. Much of the fire is unreachable in remote locations.
The world’s largest firefighting airplane, the Global Supertanker based in Colorado Springs, has been called in.
The efforts to keep the raging fires in the Amazon rainforest at bay got a big helping hand recently when the world’s largest firefighting airplane was pressed into service.
Colorado-based Global SuperTanker sent its Boeing 747-400 firefighting plane to assist the Bolivian government to conduct firefighting missions over part of Bolivia’s portion of the rainforest. The company also brought 14 people to assist in the efforts and plan to stay at least for two weeks.
The B747-400 SuperTanker is capable of dropping around 19,000 gallons of retardant per trip.
