In response to demands made by the professional firefighters' union on Monday, Faro City Council have confirmed that work is underway to improve working conditions at the local Firefighters' barracks.
On Monday, the National Union of Professional Firefighters (SNBP) demanded “immediate intervention” from the council to improve the working conditions of Faro's firefighters, who currently work, according to the union, with “degraded” equipment and facilities.
“Immediate and effective measures are needed by the competent authorities” to provide Faro Firefighters with “adequate facilities, operational equipment and decent working conditions, essential for an efficient and safe rescue service”, the SNBP said in a statement.
In response, yesterday the council said that “construction work is underway on the Municipal Emergency Operations Center (CMOS), which will operate at the headquarters of the Faro Firefighters Company (CSB).
“Significant improvements were also made in some spaces, particularly in the changing rooms and dormitories”, and “a training room with more modern technological resources” was created.
“As the work progressed, it was necessary to adopt temporary solutions in order to guarantee the continued operation of the barracks”, acknowledged the municipality, stressing that a project is being developed, “together with the CSB, to build a new barracks, functional, modern and adapted to the needs of the firefighters and the population they serve”.
Firefighters are also faced with “degrading conditions at the barracks”, where there is a cafeteria “without the minimum hygienic conditions” and “recently renovated” changing rooms, but which have been “without hot water since last December”, the union explained.
However, the local authority claimed that, in December, “a serious fault was found in the sanitary water heating equipment, with no capacity to repair it”, and “the procedure for acquiring a replacement system” was initiated under public procurement rules.
The municipality clarified that, until the conditions for bathing are restored with the acquisition of new water heating equipment, “the changing rooms at Campo Municipal da Penha”, located about 1km from the Sapadores barracks, were made available so that firefighters can bathe with hot water.
The Municipality is currently running a competition to recruit 20 new firefighters and has recently acquired a new urban fire-fighting vehicle (VUCI), to be incorporated into the municipal fleet, in addition to a set of new technical materials to support the work, such as thermal cameras and gas detectors, which reinforce the safety and effectiveness of operations on the ground, allowing for faster, safer and more precise interventions”, argued Faro City Council.
In the statement released on Monday, the SNBP assured that it has made “repeated attempts at dialogue” with the Council, but regretted that, to date, the problems identified remain “unsolved”, putting “the safety of the Firefighters and the quality of assistance provided to the population” of the municipality and the Algarve at risk.
Firefighters are faced with a “continuous degradation of working conditions” and the “lack of commitment from the responsible entities” is “evident”, considered the SNBP, accusing the local authority of “inaction” and of putting professionals and rescue at risk.
Source https://www.algarveprimeiro.com/ - photo by Câmara Municipal de Faro
