SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Jan 11 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Cabildo de Tenerife has approved allocating a budget of 14.7 million euros to reinforcing the surveillance and prevention of forest fires until 2025.
This initiative will involve, among other improvements, the hiring of 140 people who will complement the 125 who work in the forestry brigades.
This was agreed in the Governing Council that approved the order to manage the Coordination Center of the Insular Operations (Cecopin), the reinforcement of the surveillance and extinction of forest fires (Brifor) and the preventive silvicultural works for the next four years to the public company Gestión y Planning Territorial y Medioambiental SA (Gesplan).
The president of the Cabildo, Pedro Martín has pointed out in a note that since the entry of this government group they have set as their objective “the continuous improvement of forest fire prevention systems, among other things, by extending the months of the campaign or establishing 24 hours of operation of the Cecopin room “, and added that this assignment to Gesplan will involve the hiring of 140 people and will be consolidated in the next four years with the aim of increasing safety in natural spaces.
For her part, the Minister of Natural Environment and Safety Management, Isabel García, pointed out that “Gesplan has a great and important experience in the forestry areas of the island, which has a significant impact on the efficiency of the service to be provided”.
The Cecopin, which will be active throughout the year, will have a daytime service of 14 hours in morning and afternoon shifts in the coordination center of two managers and of ten hours in night shift of one manager, in addition to a location service for reinforcement in case of emergencies.
Among the functions that are developed in this coordination room, the application for incident management and fleet monitoring can be pointed out, as well as recording telephone or radio conversations, assigning alarm means, adding and withdrawing media, notification of news and GPS positioning of the assigned media.
PREVENTIVE WORK
The order includes, in the surveillance section, a Fire Watch Tower service in Picachos (with an emergency vehicle) and another in the Fire Watch Tower in Gaitero.
And as for the extinction, there are four Fire Post services made up of two brigades of eight personnel in each position during daytime hours and a brigade of four personnel at night during four months.
In addition, a Fire Sub-Post service made up of a four-man brigade during daytime, half a two-man brigade at night for four months a year.
This commission also includes the carrying out of preventive work, which will be carried out by 14 teams.
Each team will be made up of five personnel, made up of a group leader, a chainsaw specialist and three brushcutter specialists. This service will also be carried out for four months a year.
Gesplan develops, among other works, the service of the forest fire prevention and extinction teams in the Caldera de Taburiente National Park since 2012 and the Forest Fire Intervention and Reinforcement Teams (EIRIF) of the Canary Islands Government since 2017 .
