The world’s largest firefighting airplane, the Global SuperTanker based in Colorado Springs, has been called in to assist the Bolivian government put out the massive fires tearing through the Amazon rainforest.
The SuperTanker, a converted Boeing 747-400, arrived in Bolivia early Thursday morning and started operations Friday, said Dan Reese, the company’s CEO.
The plane is dumping about 19,000 gallons of water per mission, Reese said. The company brought 14 people to assist in the efforts and plan to stay at least two weeks.
“There is a lot of fire down here,” Reese said.
In just the past month, about 36,000 fires have ignited in the rainforest, nearly as many as in all of 2018.
The fires have sparked international concern over an area that accounts for around 20% of the planet’s oxygen. World leaders from the G-7 have tweeted about the crisis, with French President Emmanuel Macron urging countries to put it at the top of the agenda.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Friday he would send the military to help combat the fires, reversing course after initially dismissing concern over the massive disaster.
https://twitter.com/GlobalSuperTank/status/1164805771323834373
