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Agreement between the Region and the Fire Brigade: an agreement for the prevention and fight against fires is operational until 13 September. The details.
Handshake between the Sicilian Region and the Fire Department. Declaration of war on fires. An agreement for the prevention and fight against fires is in place until Friday 13 September, at a cost of 2,500,000 euros. The flames in the wooded areas worry the government, also because now the fire will be more difficult to control, because the drought persists and water is a mirage in the desert. And the President of the Region, Renato Schifani, comments on the agreement with the firefighters: “This year too we have renewed the agreement with the National Fire Department for stronger and more synergic action against forest fires. Greater resources have been committed that will allow us to strengthen the presence of personnel and vehicles, making it more widespread throughout the territory, especially in places further away from the detachments. In this context, we have extended the duration of the fire-fighting campaign from May 15 to October 31 and we can count, as a region, on 120 new vehicles and 190 Forestry Corps stations and on over 300 teams of Civil Protection volunteers with an additional allocation of 70 more vehicles.
In the meantime, the ‘control room’ project continues, i.e. a single regional operations room for emergencies which from next year will combine the Civil Protection and Forestry Corps forces, also with the use of cutting-edge systems for monitoring the territory from a synergistic prevention perspective” – concludes Schifani. In 2023, there were 14 additional teams involved. There are now 19 with a workforce of 116 people. In particular, the new stations activated will be in Ragalna (Catania), Piazza Armerina (Enna), Santo Stefano di Camastra (Messina), Custonaci and Pantelleria (Trapani), which are added to those in Agrigento and Cammarata, Caltanissetta, Catania, Enna , Messina and Vulcano, Palermo, Montemaggiore Belsito and Ustica, Ragusa, Syracuse, Trapani and Favignana. All the stations, made up of five elements each, will be operational from 8am to 8pm, while in Ustica, Vulcano and Pantelleria 24 hours a day (from 1st to 31st August).
The firefighting operations will be coordinated by the Forestry Corps and the Fire Brigade with the support of the volunteer firefighting teams trained, equipped and subsidized, also for consumption costs, by the Civil Protection. These teams will be able to intervene directly in cases of small outbreaks. 10 light helicopters rented by the Region and one in agreement with the Carabinieri will fly in the sky, located in strategic areas, and which will be able to obtain supplies in the 50 new supply tanks. If necessary they will be supported by the national air fleet, including Canadair and heavy helicopters. Then the agreement includes the protection and patrolling of risk areas, carried out by additional teams of Civil Protection volunteers on routes indicated by the Forestry Corps or the mayors. Various prefectures and police headquarters have organized monitoring and surveillance activities in the areas at risk on the “red flag” days.
Angelo Ruoppolo (Teleacras)
