Background Forest fires are one of the major environmental problems faced by southern European countries. Apart from the destruction of natural areas, deforestation and land desertification, they lead to other serious damages such as the loss of biodiversity. The conventional tools used for fire fighting are not always efficient or effective, particularly in severe weather conditions such as strong winds, darkness and/or lack of visibility. Therefore, new tools are needed for firefighting. The new traction fire engine for extinguishing forest fires presented in this project causes minimal damage to the environment and its speed and efficiency in extinguishing fires is higher than that of the tools currently being used. Consequently, the environmental impact of forest fires will be reduced and natural habitats will be protected and preserved. Objectives The project aimed to demonstrate the functionality and effectiveness of a traction fire engine for extinguishing forest fires. This new tool intended to significantly decrease the fire extinguishing time, and therefore the surface of destroyed land, and to minimise the risks for the fire fighting personnel. The new tool would be efficient even in the most adverse and harsh extinguishing conditions under which other methods cannot be used. The vehicle could approach the fire at its head, and attack it directly with water and foam to prevent it from spreading. Because of its high effectiveness, the system would use lower volumes of water, foam retardant and energy. It was also envisaged that this vehicle could be used in oil refineries to contain the damaging effects of natural disasters that produce large amounts of highly toxic gases. Results The project consisted in the modification of an M48 A5E2 model combat tank (disused war material) into a self-drive track-mounted pump vehicle, for the extinction of forest fires, and demonstration of the vehicle’s funcionality and efficiency, with the aim of significantly reducing fire extinction times. One of the most important aspects was the transformation and recycling of military vehicles for their use in civilian tasks, their application in fighting forest fires providing inestimable social, economic and environmental benefits. The prototype underwent a series of modifications to obtain the most complete and safe fighting resource possible. It subsequently underwent field trials during the 2004 fire season, as part of Toledo province operating resources. Unfortunately, it was not possible to use the vehicle in a real situation. Although there were two opportunities to make use of the tank during the fire season, when it arrived at the site of the fire, its intervention was no longer necessary as the fire had already been extinguished. Use of the tank in a real situation did not depend on the beneficiary but on the incidence of a fire near the tank site. This highlights one of the the main handicaps of the prototype: for its actual effectiveness the distance between the available tank and the fire should be short. One of the conclusions of the project was that there should be at least one tank available in each Natural Park (and other protected zones) or zones with a high potential for forest fires. The great advantages offered by this vehicle compared with aerial resources (helicopter and spray-plane) are in its ability to operate in adverse weather conditions, specifically in wind and poor visibility. In such conditions, fires propagate very fast, they are usually larger, and so able to cause major environmental disasters. The vehical can also operate without daylight, and so precious time can be gained. The hourly working costs of the V.E.L.I.F. are about 10% that of aerial resources, on-site it costs less than one third per day, and the capacity of the water tank is 16,000 litres, compared to 1000/4000 litres for aerial resources. The advantage of the vehicle in relation to conventional motor-pump models is its greater operability, allowing entry to steeper areas with fewer access paths. This is precisely where the forest fires which most propagate usually occur. The cost of recycling each combat tank into a forest fire extinction vehicle (approximately 500 000 euros) is not double that of providing a motor-pump model. As opposed to an alternative method, bulldozers are a complement to other resources; their use is required at other times and other conditions. It can be concluded that, from an environmental standpoint, the investment for recycling each combat tank into a forest fire extinction vehicle is justified, given the advantage of increased operability. Use of the V.E.L.I.F. can reduce damage in areas of environmental value which are infinitely higher than the cost of the vehicle.