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Two KA-32 helicopters assisting in disaster response missions

Army Aviation Centre works with Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation to fight wildfires in Thailand’s North

With several provinces in the upper North blanketed in smoke from forest fires and outdoor burning, leading to unsafe levels of PM2.5 particulate dust, Thai authorities this week sent two helicopters to Chiang Mai’s Wing 41 to fight the fires and PM2.5. They will remain there until the situation returns to normal.

The Royal Thai Army’s Aviation Center commander Maj Gen Warut Nonthawong and the Interior Ministry’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) chief Monthol Sudprasert on Thursday (January 30) signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly use the two KA-32 helicopters for disaster response missions.

Under the agreement, the two agencies will share equipment, aircraft and aviation personnel to enhance disaster relief capacities, Army deputy spokesperson Col Sirichan Ngathong said.

The DDPM is providing the KA-32 helicopters and equipment while the Army will provide pilots, mechanics, and a hangar as well as supervising the operations of the helicopters.

The two helicopters – each equipped with a 3,000-litre water tank, a 5,000-litre water bucket, a 10-litre foam tank, a water nozzle and a winch – were first used in firefighting drills in the North from January 27-30 as well as a real firefighting operation on Doi Phra Bat mountain in Lampang province on January 29.

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