Die Feuerspringer von Sibirien

360° GEO - Report takes the risk of accompanying a unit of smokejumpers from Irkutsk as they descend into the burning forests.
It is summer in the taiga and weeks of heat have seriously dried Siberia's forests.
This is the start of the high season for the smokejumpers of the "Avialesoochrana", a Russian firefighting special forest protection unit.
The teams parachute out of old biplanes or climb down from helicopters by rope into remote and inaccessible forest regions so they can fight wildfires as close as possible to the source. It is a very dangerous job as the men use antiquated equipment: their most important tools are shovels and spades. (officiële tekst van distribiteur)