The Minister of the Interior, José Luis Carneiro, assured this Friday that the government is ready to strengthen the means available to fight the fires in Madeira if required by the regional authorities.
“If necessary, we are ready to strengthen these resources, and they will be mobilized at the request of the regional authorities,” assured José Luis Carneiro.
The minister also expressed words of solidarity with the people of Madeira, regional authorities and municipalities such as Porto Moniz and Calheta, which are “going through difficult times.”
José Luis Carneiro spoke in Porto, on the sidelines of a public presentation of the balance between the operational activities of the PSP and the PNP.
This morning, a contingent of the National Emergency Management and Civil Protection Directorate (ANEPC), led by the Commander of the Subregional Emergency Management and Civil Protection Directorate of Coimbra, Carlos Tavares, went to the archipelago to help fight the fires.
In Porto, a government official explained that the contingent allocated for the trip to Madeira consists of 64 operational personnel, including 54 firefighters from the Special Civil Protection Force, six personnel from the Emergency and Civil Protection Command of Coimbra and four personnel from the Command structure for Emergency Situations and Civil Protection of Coimbra. Institute of National Emergency Medicine.
According to him, this contingent essentially has the skills to extinguish fires on foot, which is extremely important given the geomorphological features of the archipelago.
Due to “transportation needs”, the 64 participants were divided into two teams, the first of which traveled to Madeira today.
At this moment, he emphasized, those funds that the regional authorities considered necessary have been mobilized, however, if other needs are identified, “naturally, we will mobilize these same supports,” he repeated, reporting the presence of an Emergency and protection and assistance Division of the National Republican Guard to support resources on the ground if needed.
The fire broke out on Wednesday at around 18:00 in the parish of Prazeres, municipality of Calheta, in the west of the island of Madeira, and during the night spread to the neighboring parish of Fajão da Ovelha and then to other parishes. Ponta do Pargo and Ashadas da Cruz are already found in the municipality of Porto Moniz, where it has been cultivated with greater intensity.
On Thursday afternoon, another fire broke out in the municipality of Camara de Lobos, adjacent to Funchal to the west, in a forested area in Vera Cruz, Quinta Grande parish, which remains active.
The government of Madeira declared a state of emergency on Thursday due to fires still raging in the region, activating the Regional Civil Protection Emergency Plan.
More than 100 operators, 42 vehicles and Madeira’s only aerial firefighting equipment were involved in extinguishing the fire in three municipalities at 11:30 am.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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