File photo: Indian Air Force's MI-17 helicopter douses a forest fire
A major forest fire, which broke out in a forest 30 kilometres away from Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam late on Thursday and started spreading, was brought in control by four of the Indian Air Force's newly-acquired MI-17 V5 helicopters.
Acting on a request by the state administration, the IAF deployed the MI-17 V5 helicopters which are equipped with fire-fighting equipment known as the 'Bambi Bucket', which can hold up to 3,500 litres of water.
In its first sortie, the helicopter carried out a detailed aerial assessment of the area and the extent to which the fire had spread.
Though the fire seemed to be under control initially, at around 1.30 pm, it picked up speed again due to the increasing wind-speed. The helicopters had to make 42 rounds and use nearly one lakh litres of water to douse the fire. The fire is now under control; administration officials and forest department authorities will conduct a sortie early on Saturday morning to assess the situation.
This is the third time this year that IAF choppers were used to fight forest fires, says IAF, adding that a "potentially catastrophic environmental disaster" was averted.