The Cabildo de Tenerife presented at the base of the Forestry Brigade (Britor) of La Guancha The greatest operation in the history of Canary Islands. For five months, from June 2 to November 2, more than a thousand troops will be deployed through the mountains of the island to prevent and, in the event that forest fires occur. The device will have material resources ranging from drones or helicopters, even with night vision, to reinforcement in number and capacity of extinction vehicles.
«Prepared to fight against the fire in the mountain». It is the answer and the concept that moves the 331 troops of the BRIFor – 72 more specialists are expected before the end of the year – to monitor, prevent and, ultimately, extinguish fires during the 2025 campaign.
La Guancha hosted the presentation of the Human and material resources for the extinction of environmental catastrophes Like the one that hit Tenerife between August and November 2023, with about 12,000 burned hectares and 11 of the 31 affected municipalities.
The north of the island of the Microclimas received the expedition that started early from the capital, in the middle of a cloudy and fresh morning that led, little by little, in a sun of justice at the time of return to Santa Cruz.
Precisely, it is Atmospheric time a key factor in forest fires, As explained by the Brifor heads headed by José María Sánchez and Pedro Martínez, acquaintances of those terrible days of two years ago in which a part of the island burned.
331 troops
From that serious event it was learned and the result is today evident. At the base of those 331 Brifor troops The military patrols of the Prometheus Program for the second consecutive year, the Civil Guard, the Canarian Police and the premises, the Tenerife Fire Consortium, the Volunteer Firefighters, Rural Guards and the members of Municipal and Insular Civil Protection members are joined.
To all of them, he appreciates his effort and delivers the president of the Cabildo, Rosa Dávila, during an act of presentation in which the passes of the Ecuarel B3 helicopter of the Brifor high Chief of the Brifor Fire Unit, José María Sánchez, explained in detail the operation.
Rosa Dávila summarized: “We protect our mountains and, most importantly, our people.” He deepened that «Tenerife is prepared to respond effectively and coordination, because we have learned that Prevention and speed save lives and ecosystems And we do it because we know what we face ». He referred to climate change, which “is no longer the scene of the future, but the present.”
The Blanca Pérez Minister highlighted the previous work throughout the year: “This operation does not begin in June, but much earlier, with gangs cleaning, clearing or conditioning roads and checking water points.” He highlighted, with Mayor Guanchero, Antonio Hernández, the effort of many municipalities “that are better prepared today to act”. Pérez stressed the importance of the Medianías Plan in progress to improve especially sensitive areas where vegetation, agricultural use and homes are combined. That is, the interface. He finished: “We know there are more means, more technology and better planning, but nothing replaces people’s awareness.” He concluded: «Prevention begins at home, in the field, in how we take care of the environment. Each person can help avoid a fire ».
Pedro Tito Martínez is head of the Technical Forest Management Service of the Cabildo de Tenerife. Regarding the campaign, he said that “we had a much better winter than other years and we see it with favorable perspectives, but it can change everything, much and very fast.” LThe great enemies are «heat waves in summer. If we have many, we will lose all the positive effect ». He considered that “we are always prepared, but we had to go around the operation to adapt to the climatic conditions and the variables.” He recalled that “20 years ago it was just a four -month reinforcement and now the team is complete all year.” Apart from expanding it on the calendar, 15 days ahead and many others behind, he explained that “we have worked internally with the unions, our staff and human resources of the council to have an operation that fits the weather alerts.” An example: “In a Barça-Madrid, the police do not come out when they begin to stick, but there is a previous device precisely so that they do not stick.” Hence the quadrants have adjusted “so that the largest number of resources are when necessary.” Martínez valued that “the great fire of 2023 was learned, but we continue to learn because mistakes are always made, but they always correct themselves.”
Back ‘Prometheus’
The Prometheus program is activated for the second time, thanks to the agreement with the Ministry of Defense. It will allow the deployment of 920 Army patrols for 92 days in the highest risk areas, especially in the mediations. As a novelty, nocturnal air surveillance of the maneuvering helicopter battalion V (Bhelma V) is incorporated, based on the rodeos.
Colonel Alberto Cherino repeats at the head of the military operation. He valued: «This year’s collaboration agreement is very similar to that of 2024, because it worked very well. We started the same, the first day of July, and we would end on September 30 with 10 daily patrols, 920 throughout those three months ». The main novelty, he said, is “the possibility of activating helicopters both day and night.” Cherino stressed that they are fully prepared: “We are centered on the Day of the Armed Forces (June 7, in Santa Cruz) and then the operation will arrive.”
The chief colonel of the Tenerife 49 Infantry Regiment concluded: «The key is in last year’s experience when we start from scratch. The population is not used to seeing us for the mountains and encouraged us a lot, which earned us morally to be very satisfied with what we did, although it is nothing more than to serve people. LIn great luck is that there was no fire ».
Campaigns
The campaign includes the Use of three drones equipped with thermal and visual camerasin addition to two nodriza pumps with capacity for 9,000 liters each, four medium, 24 forest, 30 light pickup – seisis new – and 29 SUVs for transport. Without forgetting a complete advanced command post (PMA). It also contemplates exceptional preventive measures that will be activated during extreme risk episodes such as the prohibition of agricultural burning, the use of fireworks, the suspension of forest works or the temporary closure of access to the mountain. In addition, the continuous training of the personnel is maintained, especially to fires of great magnitude in the urban-forest interface.
Another fundamental body in action against fires is the Civil Guard and, specifically, the Nature Protection Service (Seprona). The chief colonel of the Benemérita in the province, Ángel Sanz, highlighted “the huge deployment of the council” and stressed: “The Civil Guard is always on the street and not only participate with the Seprona, even if it is our spearhead, especially in fire investigation.”
Sanz influenced that «we lend citizen security in the mountains of Tenerife, La Palma and La Gomera throughout the year, although when the fire campaign arrives we make an even greater effort in terms of number of patrols and to be more visible with a complementary work to extinction brigades». He recalled that “on the nights of the great fire of 2023 there were 200 guards working, doing control and establishing the perimeter.” That is, “saving lives, evicting people, there were 13,700 neighbors, a general device beyond Seprona’s work.”
Another ‘palate’ of security is the Environment Unit of the Canarian Police, the Gruma, with 15 troops on the island. Inspector Kevin Flores explained that “our specific task will be given, above all, in the heat waves to inspect the mountain in the High and Medianity Areas in what is called interface ». He summed up: “We will be side by side with the means of extinction for what they need.” Among his functions he pointed out “cutting traffic, evicting, preference to the passage of emergencies and informing the population.”
Alejandro Hernández is the Insular Coordinator of Civil Protection volunteering of the different municipalities (yesterday were La Victoria and La Orotava) and other groups such as an aid in Anaga Emergencies (AEA). He summed up his task with a phrase: “In case of emergency, we are for whatever is needed and necessary.” This year there are more than 160 people.
The phrase of the Blanca Pérez counselor synthesized everything: “The best forest fire is the one that does not occur.” Just in case, Tenerife is prepared to defend its mountains in case of fire.
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