SFE “Forests of Ukraine” expands its fleet of modern firefighting equipment: Karpatskyi Forest Office to receive 10 new forest-firefighting modules!
New forest-firefighting modules will be deployed to the Ivano-Frankivske, Nadvirnyanske, Kolomyiske, Skolivske, Sambirske, Rakhivske, Mizhhirske, and Khustske Forestry Management Units.
The greatest need for forest‐firefighting modules is in the mountainous areas of Zakarpattia. This year, there was an abnormally warm and low‐snow winter here, and spring began with drought and a sudden temperature rise. Over two weeks in March, three large forest fires, each covering 7 to 17 ha, occurred in Mizhhirske Forestry Management Unit. The State Emergency Service assisted foresters in combating the blazes, but suppression was hampered by the fact that large‐scale equipment could not access the high‐altitude terrain.
A similar situation arose this spring in Radehivske and Skolinske Forestry Management Units in Lviv Region.
Only mobile, compact equipment such as pickups fitted with forest firefighting modules can reach those inaccessible areas. Karpatskyi Forest Office had 18 forest firefighting modules. Of the 21 Forestry Management Units, only 6 were equipped with such modules, and the entire Zakarpattia Region had just one.
The new equipment will significantly enhance rapid response to ignitions. Forest firefighting modules can be mounted on a pickup in two minutes and fully deployed on-site in three minutes. Crew: two people.
A forest firefighting module mounted on a pickup can access remote, hard-to-reach areas where large vehicles cannot. The modules hold 500–600 liters of water, sufficient to extinguish fires of up to 0.5–1 ha.
As a reminder, under this year’s investment plan of SFE “Forests of Ukraine,” the procurement of 28 forest firefighting modules is envisaged. Of these, 25 have already been acquired for the Forestry Units of Skhidnyi, Tsentralnyi, Pivdennyi, Pivnichnyi, Karpatskyi, and Stolychnyi Forest Offices. The remaining three modules will be procured at the regional level by the Stolychnyi Forest Office.