The government told Parliament on Tuesday that a fleet of 60 aerial firefighting equipment had “virtually all been in the air at the same time” in recent days, which is “unusual”.
“In recent days, the situation has not been very common, we had almost the entire fleet in the air at the same time,” said Secretary of State for Civil Protection in the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees in response to Chega MP Bruno Nunez.
Patricia Gaspard argued that this situation is “an infrequent situation”, but it is related to the situation that happened last week and the increase in the number of fires.
The Minister of the Interior explained that “there was a day when 58 out of 60 aircraft operated simultaneously”, but did not specify which one.
The Secretary of State specified that the management of air resources is “carried out by the National Emergency Management and Civil Protection Administration.” [ANEPC] depending on the events that are detected and logged at any given time.”
“All aircraft are activated in accordance with the needs, they perform different tasks. Initial attack air assets do not have the same function as extended attack air assets, they are pre-located throughout the country in a network of 41 out of 42 air resource centers,” said Patricia Gaspard.
The minister reminded the deputies that in 2003 about 500,000 hectares burned down, and there were years when more than 500 fires a day occurred.
“This shows that the word being considered in the public space on these issues is exactly what is required of institutions,” he stressed.
The official explained that the civil protection system has the maximum potential for efficiency and effectiveness, in circumstances such as last week, up to 150 fires at the same time.
“When you exceed these numbers, you start to lose effectiveness, which means that if we had 500 fires, as we have in the past, we would have dramatic situations in protecting people and goods,” he stressed.
At the hearings, which lasted nearly four hours and mostly focused on forest fires, one of the most frequently raised issues by opposition MPs was funding for firefighters.
The minister noted that more than 32 million euros have been allocated to the Special Device for Rural Fire Fighting this year, which is 12% more than in 2021, and the air assets estimate is 60 million euros for air assets.
José Luis Carneiro also highlighted the ongoing funding of firefighters of 29 million 713 thousand euros, up 3.7% compared to 2021, and the strengthening of the operational capacity of humanitarian associations of firefighters by 2.5 million euros in addition to 1.8 million euros . for the Firemen’s Social Fund, 107% more than in 2021.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
