Russian air freight specialist Volga-Dnepr Airlines has delivered a load of firefighting vehicles to California. They arrived on an An-124-100 charter flight for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist firefighting missions in California. Deadly wildfires have been burning there for weeks — even months in some cases.
Dozens of fires are still burning across the Golden State. The latest blazes — the Zogg and Glass fires — are each less than 10% contained, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) officials. Crews need as much assistance as possible to get wildfires under control.
Volga-Dnepr’s critical delivery included two fire engines and a Ford F-250 pickup truck, weighing a total of more than 20 tons. They were transported from Atlantic City, New Jersey, to San Francisco last month.
“For more than five years we have been cooperating with FEMA to guarantee fast, seamless and intact humanitarian deliveries to the regions hit by various natural disasters,” Ekaterina Andreeva, commercial director at Volga-Dnepr Airlines, said. “Up until now, we have operated over 80 FEMA charter flights delivering more than 3,000 tons of essential cargo, and we are always on alert with our dedicated services, fleet and personnel.”
(Photo: Volga-Dnepr)
Volga-Dnepr has been supporting FEMA since 2015 with various aid and relief charters. The range of cargoes has included food, water, tents, telephone poles and generators. Other deliveries contained heavy machinery for dissolution, as well as construction equipment that bolstered recovery from natural disasters such as Typhoon Soudelor in 2015, Hurricane Maria in 2017 and Typhoon Yutu in 2018.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Volga-Dnepr has operated six charters from southeastern Asia to the U.S. with personal protective equipment (PPE) on board to assist in the battle against the spread of the virus.
Based in Ulyanovsk in eastern Russia, Volga-Dnepr Airlines is one of the largest heavy-lift airlines in the world, with a fleet of Boeing, Anotonov and Ilyushin freighters. The group is a global event partner for Breakbulk Exhibitions.