Yesterday, the municipality of São Brás de Alportel and the Portuguese Army formalised their agreement that allows for patrolling, surveillance and prevention of rural fires in the mountainous area of the municipality, between 1st July and 30th September.
This is the eighth consecutive year that the municipality of São Brás de Alportel has had Army patrols that are part of the Municipal Strategy for the Prevention of Rural Fires of São Brás and Alportel, complementing the whole set of actions that are on the ground.
The presence of the military team deployed by the Army complements the fire prevention actions, providing an essential aid in this priority mission, in the defense of the forest and the populations of the mountainous area of the municipality.
"The objective is essentially a patrol of visibility and surveillance related to rural fires in order to warn or alert any inappropriate behavior and to prevent fires that may break out in the mountains of São Brás", explains the municipality in a statement, "two thirds of the municipality of São Brás de Alportel is made up of the Serra do Caldeirão, a natural heritage that is important to safeguard for its environmental importance, but also for being one of the main sources of economic wealth in the municipality".
The Mayor of São Brás de Alportel, Vitor Guerreiro, considers the partnership of "great importance for the surveillance of the most isolated areas and the increased safety of the populations residing there", and also reinforces the work carried out with the Voluntary Fire Department of São Brás de Alportel, which annually has a Permanent Intervention Team, whose performance is reinforced during the period of DESCIR (Special Device for Combating Rural Fires from 15 May to 15 October) by two additional fire fighting teams, one of which is in situ in the mountainous area of the municipality, in order to ensure greater speed of action in the event of an occurrence.
“We have made a significant and continuous investment in the execution of firebreaks, clearing of berms around urban centres, maintenance of paths in the Serra and Barrocal area and more recently the creation of a new water point in the area. south of Cabeça do Velho, which will certainly be an asset. Prevention is our best weapon in fighting rural fires, in a mission shared by the entire population”, says Vitor Guerreiro.
The City Council of São Brás de Alportel sees "the defense of the territory and the safety of the population as priorities" and with this measure it intends to "guarantee a face-to-face and effective response in the prevention and combat of rural fires".
