The Russian Emergencies Ministry’s Beriev Be-200 amphibious planes have managed to extinguish six wildfires covering an area of approximately 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) in Portugal over five days, the ministry’s press service said in a statement Friday.

According to the ministry, the Russian pilots have saved two national parks and three settlements inhabited by some 55,000 people from the fires.

“In total, over the five days of work, the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s aircraft have carried out 42 water discharges with a total mass of 5,000 tonnes, extinguishing over 1,000 hectares of wildfires,” the statement reads.

On Friday, the Russian Emergencies Ministry said that it was sending two Be-200 Altair amphibious aircraft to assist Portugal in battling forest fires, following the receipt of a request from Lisbon.

The Beriev Be-200 is well suited to firefighting missions. It can take in up to 12.5 metric tons of water in the space of a few seconds while traveling over a body of water before dropping this load on the flames.