It was during the height of this summer that a 63-year-old man allegedly thought it a good wheeze to aim his 12-bore shotgun at a low flying helicopter belonging to the forest-fire entity of Castilla-La Mancha, Infocam, which was tackling a fire near San Martín de Montalbán.
It was around 20.30h of the day in question that Infocam informed the Guardia Civil that somebody was threatening their pilots with a firearm because they was taking on water from his open water tank.
The normal procedure during a forest fire is for a helicopter to suck up water from the nearest point so as not to lose time, which means open irrigation tanks and swimming pools are often used. However, the pilots record the location and soon after a tanker will arrive to replace the water taken.
However, in this case, the farmer didn’t like the idea and expressed his opposition with his shotgun.
Anyway, the Guardia Civil arrived, confiscated the shotgun and informed that he had been charged and would have to explain his actions before a judge.
(News: San Martín de Montalbán, Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha)