Plysa, a Valencian aviation company fighting fires.

In one Greek mythological story, it is told how Prometheus dared to defy the Olympian gods by stealing a vital element - fire. Fire, which is the basis for the development of civilizations, was given to humans, leading to the titan being punished by the gods and having to spend eternity having his liver eaten by an eagle in an endless cycle.

What was once seen as a gift has now become a real threat in light of wildfires that are increasing due to climate change and its effects. And with them also grows the business of fire suppression, an economic trend that is expanding around the world where available resources, both public and private, are proving insufficient.

It's this one''A complex picture is painted to us by José Luis Moreno, who with a deep knowledge of the secrets of the industry is today the CEO of Planificación y Soluciones Aéreas (Plysa), a company created in 2016 in connection with Air Nostrum, which is one of the companies involved in firefighting work and is under active development.

He says the task of firefighting is becoming increasingly difficult due to the emergence of increasingly powerful fires that can, on their own, destroy a large proportion of the hectares that can burn in a campaign, such incidents are becoming more common due to climate change related factors such as high temperatures and drought.

This is not the only aspect. Rising temperatures have led to,''is growing so fast that it is "unfortunately impossible to meet it", since the lack of resources (Spanet, for example, has a little over 50 fixed wing aircraft, a term that does not include, for example, helicopters, and most of them are privately owned) is also associated with a clear shortage of new vehicles. Because aircraft manufacturers are "failing," they have limited production capacity, which results in delivery times that can extend from a year to a year and a half.

Chief informants in firefighting

Hidden amidst a field in Manche, the Plysa base located in Sotos, Cuenca province, is in the calm of a November Thursday. This is not always a normal situation. That's because there are important activities taking place there on''training and coaching the pilots - and the rest of the team, from mechanics to water typists - to make sure that in a real-life extinguishing operation, everything is accurate. This is where the stopwatch plays a key role. Because once they're already at different bases during the season, aircraft maintenance is done at night so that the pilot has time to prepare for departure during the day. "We have about 10 minutes of response time when we have to have time to get on the planes, check where we have to go, assess the weather and fly out," says Jose Luis Moreno.

He knows this firsthand Manuel Perez, one of Plysa's pilots, who has been flying for more than 20 years and participates every season in aerial firefighting, which requires special training as well as holding a license to''hours, one plane can drop 10,000 to 12,000 liters in four or five flights. If the fire is small, this is enough time to put it out. If not, pilots alternate every two or three hours.

For Perez, the job is a "calling," although it's getting harder to find pilots every year because of the high demand for this line of work.

Large investments

Despite these conditions, the spread of fires around the world is causing firefighting operations, traditionally controlled by a few large companies, to attract an increasing number of private operators on all''levels. This is happening, for example, with Plysa itself. At the moment, there are only three or four other companies among the companies involved in aerial work affecting fixed wing. In the case of helicopters, "there are many more companies offering this service," Moreno says.

One of the main reasons for this difference in the number of participants is the investment required, which includes aspects such as the availability of aircraft and pilots, training and safety. In the case of Plysa, the company's CEO claims that training alone for flight hours costs half a million euros a year, to which is added another four million for aircraft maintenance and the cost of acquiring each aircraft, which,''thanks to high demand and unaffordability, has grown from 1.3 million per unit to two million in less than five years. "Depending on the need and contracts won, we acquire them," he continues.

As it expands, Plysa has 18 aircraft and hopes to reach 21 by the end of 2024, as well as 30 permanent pilots. They are also trained during the season at a leased base in Sotos (Cuenca province) and the operations centers from which they fly out. There are contracts already in place in Spain, as well as in France and Chile.

Improving technology and innovation

In the case of Plysa, their aircraft are no more than five years old, allowing them to utilize advanced technologies such as electronic and global' systems'positioning, as well as video cameras on board to transmit fire images and make decisions. They also have hot-loading capability to be more efficient. The industry still faces the challenge of night flying, which is planned to be overcome in the future.

In general, firefighting should not only be evaluated in economic aspect but also in environmental aspect as it helps to protect the environment and people. Improving technology and innovation is also an important part of this industry.