A contingent of 64 Algarve firefighters supported by 12 vehicles set off in the early afternoon yesterday, to assist in fighting intense fires in the North and Center of the country.
Under the Special Rural Fire Fighting Scheme, whenever necessary, resources will be activated between regions in Portugal.
Commander of the Algarve Sub-Regional Command, Richard Marques, explained that this contingent “means firefighters can work uninterruptedly, from start to finish, there are no breaks in the fight against fires. While one half of the staff is resting, the other is in operational action with rotating 12-hour shifts”.
The operatives sent from the Algarve represent a majority due to the current high risk forecasts being for the inland area, not the Algarve coast. The Government has extended the state of alert in these affected inland areas until the end of Thursday.
A multidisciplinary team has also been set up, to deal with the consequences of the fires of recent days, based in Aveiro and coordinated by the Deputy Minister for Territorial Cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida.
Photo by Faro Bombeiros - Facebook
