The Generalitat will strengthen it’s aerial surveillance this summer due to the risk of forest fires
The heliborne units of the Forest Fire Service will have 6 helicopters available to them throughout the year
The Valencian Community will have more than 600 professionals dedicated to them on a daily basis to prevent and extinguish forest fires.
The regional secretary, José María Ángel, met with all the agencies involved in forest fires this week to coordinate preventive actions and actions in the event of forest fires this summer.
During the meeting, which was held via videoconference, those responsible for Emergencies said that, between July and September, air and ground surveillance of the forested areas of the Valencian Community will be reinforced and air resources will be available. In addition, preventative measures among the population will be increased.
The heliborne units of the Forest Fire Service will be assigned six helicopters and will maintain them throughout the year, thus doubling the air resources available to these units up to now.
The secretary said that the Generalitat “will have a daily operation made up of more than 600 professionals dedicated to the prevention and extinction of forest fires.” The planned operation is made up of emergency technical personnel and the Generalitat’s Fire Service and Forest Fire Department, which will have 40 fire engines and 18 aerial means. In addition, the KAMOV, a highly capable and efficient air resource, will be active in the Valencian Community until October 16.
The Fire Prevention Service of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, Climate Emergency and Ecological Transition will mobilize technical forestry personnel, environmental agents, personnel at fixed observatories, prevention units, in addition to fire prevention centres and a support team.
To this will be added the troops of the provincial firefighters consortiums and the municipal firefighters of the provincial capitals, in addition to the State security forces and bodies, which will maintain the deployments in the parks and, in the event that the weather forecast is favourable to the spread of forest fires, surveillance shifts will be reinforced.
Ángel highlighted the importance of anticipating risk situations and asks members of the public for their maximum involvement: “if they see smoke or fire, call 112 to give an immediate response to the emergency so that we can try to stop it spreading into a large fire.” He added that, although there are many human and material resources that are mobilized to defend the mountains and natural spaces against fire, “we must be aware of the importance of the collaboration of everyone.”
The person in charge of Security and Emergencies has said that the population must “follow the advice and recommendations through the official channels of the 112CV, among them, the Twitter account and the 112 notifications APP in which you can follow the actual level of fire risk.
PREVENTIVE SURVEILLANCE
During the summer, as was the case during Holy Week and Easter, depending on the risk levels, the operation will adopt preventive measures provided for at the maximum risk level. The staff of the Generalitat’s Fire Service and Forest Firefighters will carry out surveillance and prevention tasks in addition to responding to the extinction of possible forest fires.
The reconnaissance flight will also carry out preventive surveillance routes loaded with water and retardant. For this, 7 routes have been established through the three provinces, particularly in the territories with the largest forest mass.
