Coulson Aviation announced November 15th that the company would be sending its CH47D Chinook to Chile to preemptively assist in aerial firefighting efforts. For the next 100 days, Coulson Aviation will be working with new Chilean partners PESCO and CONAF this wildfire season.
The National Forest Corporation (CONAF) is a Chilean non-profit organization, through which Chile contributes to the management of the country’s forest resources. Together with the new partner PESCO, a leading company in equipment and machinery for the forestry, mining, environmental, municipal, and emergency industries, Coulson Aviation is bringing their expertise in firefighting into Chile.
“We are thrilled as a company to partner with another family owned and operated company, PESCO, who share the same passion about delivering a world class service as we do.” Said Foster Coulson, Coulson Aviation. “With this new partnership, we have been able to secure a contract with CONAF, who for the first time will be hiring a CH47D Chinook to support their firefighting needs.”
Chile has faced devastating wildfires in the past. The worst wildfire in Chile’s modern history happened two years ago and killed at least 11 people, destroyed a town, and around 600,000 hectares of land. Climate change and the replacement of native forest with flammable eucalyptus and pine plantations is a growing threat of wildfires to Chile. Over the recent years, Chile has seen an increasing number of larger wildfires as well as an extended wildfire period. This year, Chile expects the area burned by wildfires to double compared to last year.
“It’s exciting to see our company constantly evolving and now operating on three continents, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.” Britt Coulson, Coulson Aviation, “Our goal is to create a lasting presence in Chile for years to come.”
The partnership between Coulson Aviation and PESCO will test methods to contain the wildfires in Chile, further expanding Coulson Aviation’s global reach and industrial leadership.
About Coulson Aviation (USA) Inc.: Coulson Aviation is the global leader in aerial firefighting with the mission to protect our world from forest fires. As the only aerial firefighting company operating both fixed- wing aircraft and Type 1 helicopters, Coulson Aviation is the best equipped company and operates the largest aerial firefighting fleet in the world. Always driving for innovation to better serve the industry needs, Coulson Aviation has the only STC aerial firefighting tank for a C-130 and the only tank for a Boeing 737 through the most complex modification ever done to a 737, which allows to carry both the payload and the crew. Coulson Aviation became the first in Australia to successfully conduct night fire suppression operations. You can find out more from Coulson Aviation’s website: www.coulsonaviationusa.com
