Guacimara Fuentes and her children Teo, Irina and Dennis thank the seaplane pilots of Group 43 of the Air Force every day, morning and afternoon, since last Thursday they joined the titanic fight against the fire in Tenerife. They do it in a very particular way: they started with a “thank you” sign that they painted themselves on a white cloth with black letters and that they display on the roof of the building where they live in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and they have been perfecting the thanks with flags of the Island, of Spain and posters with other slogans and children’s drawings.
The botijos either bumblebees, as these seaplanes are popularly known, they pass so close to the roof, on their flight to the nearby Puerto de Santa Cruz to load water, that Guacimara and the children even see the faces that the crew members dedicate to them in response to the winks of this chicharrera family. They are not the only people from Tenerife who show their gratitude towards the work of these aces of the air who these days do not stop flying over the Island to attack the flames. The samples are counted by hundreds in streets, windows and other roofs. But these little ones are the ones that have touched the hearts of the pilots the most.
Such is the relationship that has arisen between the Guacimara family and the professionals of these air fire extinguishers that sometimes even notify the woman and children, with whom they have contacted through social networks and wasap, of what what time the flights will start and when they will end the day late in the afternoon. “Magic has arisen between us,” says Guacimara Fuentes, a 39-year-old chicharrera. “In fact, the children, my three children and sometimes a few friends, get very excited preparing the banners and waving the flags every time the seaplanes go by. And more when the pilots answer us », she details.
seaplane cookies
They are not just sweethearts. This woman from Tenerife says that sometimes the lights of the aircraft sting and other times they move their wings a little just before landing on the waters of the main pier to collect water from the sea and return to the mountains to throw it on the flames. But the thing has not stopped there. A friend from Guacimara made cookies that reproduce the seaplanes or the shield of the 43rd Group of the Air Force and sent them to the crews at the base that they have set up at the Tenerife North airport through a soldier who visited them at their home. One of the pilots wrote the following on his Instagram account last night with a photo of the cookies: “Get off flying and receive this … Canaries, you are the best.” Another of the crew members even sent them a photo that he had taken from the seaplane and where the children are seen greeting them next to the sign.
It all started as a novel. «From the first moment we have followed the news of the fire with great concern and sadness and when we began to hear the passing of the planes we decided to go up to the roof to cheer them up in some way, to thank them for the enormous effort and great work they are doing. We don’t think things would get any further, but in the end a lot of good vibes have been created with these professionals”, says Guacimara. They have the soul of good pirates and some tibias and skulls with helmets on their chests. They are known as the privateers of the air because, like those pirates who acted under the authority’s letter of marque, the amphibious planes of the 43rd Air Force Group can break some rules in their complicated fight against forest fires.
This family and many other Tenerife residents appreciate the work of these pilots on their flights over the Island
The urgency of their missions allows them to improvise flight plans, fly over populated areas or get too close to the ground. This squad, whose motto is “Turn off and let’s go!”, already conquered the hearts of Santa Cruz last year with its coming and going over the buildings and the characteristic noise of its engines in another forest fire, not as serious as the current one , declared in the municipality of Los Realejos.
Five devices have joined this time the tough battle against a fire in the Forest Crown of Tenerife that has been declared by the authorities the most devastating and voracious of the last 40 years in the Archipelago. Two come from the Malaga detachment, one from the main base in Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid), another from the Zaragoza detachment and the fifth from Santiago de Compostela.
“Magic has arisen between us and the pilots,” says Guacimara, the mother of the three little ones.
The permanent passing of these yellow birds with a red belly near roofs and towers, with a periodicity of about 25-30 minutes from early morning until the last light of day, forces the chicharreros to look up, every time they hear them and see them return they are surprised at the skill of their pilots. They are capable of refilling their cargo of six tons of salt water a few meters from the Naviera Armas and Fred Olsen ships, which simply see them arrive and leave in landings and takeoffs that last very little, between 10 and 12 seconds. Its motto and the unofficial, “where I put my eye, mojo”, characterize the peculiar mission of these Canadian-made aircraft whose payload capacity is between 5,500 and 6,000 liters.
Teo, three, Irina, seven, and Dennis, 11, pay attention every time they hear the roar of the jugs again. They go up to the top of the house building, in the middle of the Plaza de la Candelaria in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, they send them encouragement and they return with a certain resignation, comments their mother, because that means that the fire has not been put out. Guacimara is very grateful for the love that she and the little ones have received from these experts in putting out fires, who for many islanders are heroes. She points out, however, that she doesn’t want to bother them either. “This long-distance relationship is being very nice but we also know that they are very focused on their hard work and we do not want to cause them any inconvenience,” she makes clear.
They want to meet in person
But the members of Group 43 who have come to Tenerife want to meet them. «They have told us that when this disaster is over they really want to greet us, especially the children, whom they have become very fond of. Hopefully this will end as soon as possible to shake their hands and thank them personally, not from a sign”, Guacimara assures, to conclude: “It is clear that the fact that they stop flying will mean that the fire is under control. But on the other hand, we will also miss them a little.”
