Missions and areas for fire suppression have been determined today thanks to efficient cooperation between the Russian Emergency Ministry’s task force and authorities of Israel. Russian amphibious planes arrived today’s early morning in Tel-Aviv to deal with large wildfires raging in Israel.

The cooperation with the Israeli party had been established even before the Emergency Ministry’s planes landed in Israel. A briefing had been held with senior officials of Israeli emergency services to determine areas where fires will be fought – Russian planes are going to start working in the next few hours near Haifa.

Emergency Ministry’s Beriyev 200-ChS planes will join an international aerial team which is helping Israel to deal with wildfires. Our main task is to protect settlements, cultural monuments and to suppress large fires. The Emergency Ministry’s crews have huge experience in putting out fires under the most extreme conditions both in Russia and abroad. Moreover, Russian planes helped Israel to deal with fires near Haifa in December 2010.

The amphibious plane Be-200ChS is recognized worldwide as one of the most efficient means of fighting wildfires. The plane is unique because it is capable of refilling its tanks with 12 tons of water while gliding and drop then drop it on fires. In addition, Be-200ChS planes are outfitted with thermal imagers which scan the earth’s surface image in IR waves to monitor and locate wildfires.

Massive wildfires hit several regions of Israel this week. They are now sweeping through the area around the settlement of Nataf, next to Jerusalem, bushes and forests are burning in Latruna between Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem. The north of the country is also suffering from wildfires raging on approaches to the towns of Haifa, Hadera and Sikhron Ya’akov. Israeli authorities have declared a state of emergency and evacuated people from several regions around Sikhron Ya’akov. Police is asking people not to come back to their homes until 25 November.