The alert situation decreed by the Government due to the “significant increase in the risk of rural fire” starts at 00:00 this Friday and lasts until July 15, it was announced this Thursday.
Given the weather forecasts for the coming days, which point to a significant increase in the risk of rural fires, the ministers of National Defense, Interior Administration, Health, Environment and Action for Climate and Agriculture and Food have today determined the declaration of the situation throughout the continent,” says a statement from the Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI).
According to the AMI, the alert situation, the lowest level of response to disaster situations provided for in the Basic Civil Protection Law, ends at 11:59 p.m. on July 15.
The AMI advances that the declaration follows the elevation of the Special Alert Status of the Integrated Protection and Relief Operating System (SIOPS), to the Special Device for Combating Rural Fires (DECIR), in all districts of the continent.
The Ministry supervised by José Luís Carneiro explains that the declaration derives from the “need to adopt preventive and special measures of reaction to high, very high and maximum fire risk foreseen by the IPMA [Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera] in all the districts of the continent in the coming days.”
Within the scope of the alert situation declaration, the Government indicates that several “exceptional measures” will be implemented, namely, the prohibition of access, circulation and permanence within forest spaces, as well as on forest roads, rural roads and other trails. through them.
Other measures include a ban on burning and burning, work in forest areas using any type of machinery, except for those associated with rural firefighting situations, and work in other rural areas using machines.
According to the government, in the coming days the use of fireworks or other pyrotechnic devices remains completely prohibited, issued authorizations are suspended.
The Government indicates that the alert situation implies an increase in the level of preparation and operational response on the part of the GNR and the PSP, with reinforcement of means of surveillance, inspection, patrols to dissuade behaviors and general support for protection and assistance that may be triggered, considering that for this purpose the interruption of vacations and the suspension of days off and rest periods are authorized.
With the declaration of an alert situation, the “level of preparation and mobilization of the medical emergency teams, public health and psychosocial support, by the competent authorities in the areas of health and social security” will also be increased and the sapper teams. permanently mobilized forest agents, as well as the national body of forest agents and guardians of nature that are part of the fire prevention and combat device, in charge of the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests.
The AMI also underlines that, in the coming days, the level of preparation of the response teams of the entities with a special duty of cooperation in the areas of communications (fixed and mobile network operators) and energy (transport and distribution) will be increased. and the GNR will carry out patrolling and aerial inspection actions in the districts in a special state of SIOPS alert, focusing on the marked places of very high and maximum risk of fire.
According to the Government, volunteer firefighters working in the public or private sector are exempt from duty or excused absences.
The Government also indicates that the Armed Forces provide aerial means to, if necessary, be operational in places determined by the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC).
The National Authority for Emergencies and Civil Protection will put six districts of mainland Portugal on orange alert, the second highest, from Friday due to the high risk of forest fires.
According to ANEPC, Viseu, Vila Real, Bragança, Guarda, Castelo Branco and Santarém are the six districts on orange alert, while the remaining 12 will be on yellow alert, the third highest.
Source: Observadora
