CAL FIRE partners with TracPlus to launch CATIS
The CAL FIRE Aviation Tracking and Information System (CATIS) is a new platform designed to enhance the agency’s aerial firefighting operations TracPlus has partnered with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) to implement CATIS, a new platform aimed at improving the agency’s management of aerial firefighting ...

New helicopter for Rio de Janeiro military police
Recoil Aerospace recently received US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval for the use of its aerial fire tank system with the UH-60 Black Hawk. Emergency Services 20 May 2025

Greece fire contract extension for Erickson | AirMed&Rescue
The contract requires three S64 Aircrane helicopters to perform aerial fire suppression in support of the HFD and includes a scope of work to protect all regions of mainland Greece and its outer islands from the threat of wildfire.

Helicopter use surges in Spain | AirMed&Rescue
The use of aerial fire-fighting resources in Spain is climbing steeply, with Galicia in the northwest of the country reporting a 30-per-cent increase in the use of fire-fighting helicopters in the first four months of this year compared to 2011.

Jackson Fire Department boosts firefighting capabilities with new drone
The City of Jackson unveiled its first aerial drone on 25 February. Industrial Steel Treating, a Jackson-based vehicle supplier, donated the drone to the Fire Department in 2024 and covered the cost of training for three firefighters to become licensed drone pilots.

Aerial firefighting boost in Sweden - AirMed&Rescue
The AT-802 F is a water-bombing aircraft that can release 35,000 to 50,000 liters of water per hour in the event of, for example, a forest fire. The firefighting aircraft will be based in Nyköping, where Saab already has aviation operations for, among other things, aerial target services and support for Swedish Coast Guard aircraft.

Nigerian Air Force and firefighters announce partnership
The Nigerian Air Force and the country’s Federal Fire Service have set up a committee to support collaboration on the provision of aerial firefighting services It follows a meeting between Dr Karebo Pere Samson, Acting Controller General of the Federal Fire Service, and Air Marshal Isiaka Oladayo Amao, the air force’s Chief of Air Staff ...

Israeli fire planes to move from Air Force to Police
After five and a half years of operational activity in the Israeli Air Force (IAF), the Aerial Firefighting Unit is to begin operating under the country’s Aerial Police Unit. “Closing a squadron or unit in the IAF is a sad and unusual event, so it is definitely bittersweet,” commented Lt Col Eran, former commander of the unit.

Let's talk new technology and aircraft adaptations in aerial ...
New cameras, water and retardant dropping techniques, and improved communication between ground and aerial assets mean that it has never been a more exciting time to be an aerial firefighter. AirMed&Rescue Managing Editor, Mandy Langfield, will be joined by Jeff Baxter, Erickson's Senior Director of Research and Development, Brett L'Esperance ...

Greece orders eight firefighting helicopters | AirMed&Rescue
The Hellenic Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection has placed an order with ‎manufacturer Airbus for eight new H215 Super Puma helicopters for use in aerial ‎firefighting operations. The contract also includes options for a further two aircraft of the same type, and will be ‎based on a “government-owned, contractor-operated ...