Erickson helicopters are the “Swiss army knife” of forest firefighting in our country, being a “surgical” intervention tool in situations where all other means are not effective.

For another year, fires in areas close to the urban fabric of Athens bring to the fore the effectiveness of aerial firefighting means. Especially in areas where there are residences and dropping from Canadair is not feasible.

In these cases, the help that can be provided by the Erickson helicopters, known to all of us now,  or as they are properly called, the S-64 Air Crane, is invaluable.

It is a highly effective fire extinguishing tool that has a number of advantages, including being able to perform with “surgical” precision the throwing of water,  exactly where it is needed. And above all to act above houses and within the urban fabric in order to limit the damage as much as possible.

These helicopters appeared in forest firefighting in our country in 2010  and since then they have increased in number and are now an integral part of the daily battle with flames wherever needed in Greece.

It is a helicopter created by a company that modifies them and supplies them to fire departments around the world.  The company was founded by Jack Erickson and initially used buckets for aerial firefighting.