Fighting the fires

WE take it all for granted but we are extremely lucky having a team of dedicated firefighters on the island who will rush into action within minutes. The skill of the pilots flying the firefighting aircraft has already won plenty of praise especially those at the controls of the giant Canadair aircraft. After hours of battling the flames in Costa den Blanes the blaze was finally extinguised yesterday afternoon. This is the second fire to break out in this area so far this year and police suspect that it was arson.

Why anyone would want to burn many hectares of woodland in a protected area is a mystery to me but a full search was underway yesterday. Unfortunately this summer the island has been hit by a large number of forest fires which have caused much damage. The island firefighters have done an absolutely fantastic job. They have faced two major problems. The lack of rain has transformed island woodland into a tinder box and then there are the arsonists. I have seen for myself the great professionalism and skill of the pilots and crew of the big Canadair aircraft at their base in Puerto Pollensa. When they are not on operational duty they spend the day honing their skills in the Bay of Pollensa. Bringing an aircraft to land on the water is no easy task and taking off with thousands of litres of water aboard is even more difficult. This week we have seen the good and the bad. The firefighters are obviously the good guys and the arsonists are the bad.