Firefighting Season 2013 Preparation

The agenda of the meeting included the organisation and technical preparation, co-ordination with the land-based fire fighting force, and the command and control of the air force during the 2013 Fire Fighting Season to maximise its readiness.

In 2013 two squadrons of the 93rd Air Base at Zemunik will be employed – the Zemunik-based Fire Fighting Squadron (with 6 Canadair CL-415 and 5 Air Tractor AT 802 A/F aircraft and the Transportation Helicopters Squadron (2 Mi-8 MTV-1 helicopters)  based in the „Knez Trpimir“ Barracks at Divulje near Split.

The two squadrons have been placed in the stand-by and designated one crew per Canadair, Air Tractor and Helicopter in the event of intervention. In 2012, which was a „dark record“ season with  374 fire sites and 2550 fire fighting sorties, until the opening of the Fire Fighting Season on 15 May  the Fire Fighting Task Force had as many as 81 interventions.

The Commander of the Fire Fighting Squadron, Maj. Davor Turković emphasised the need for optimised use of force through the respective tactics „less is more“ employed by the squadrons. He demonstrated through practical examples the operational and technical convenience of dispatching more fire fighting assets on shorter intervention and added that the timely employment of Air Tractors adds up to the success of fire fighting, leaving the room for more efficient planning of the engagement of the overall force assigned for the Fire Fighting Season.

The conclusions and proposals from the meeting will be built into and implemented through the command system and the plans of the Fire Fighting Task Force assignments.