The National Emergency Management and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) today delivered 15 fire engines to Pombal, Leiria district, for volunteer fire brigades as part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
Today, five command vehicles will also be transferred to the ANEPC operational structure.
According to Civil Defense, 10 forest fire fighting vehicles (VFCI) and five forest tactical tankers (VTTF) will be transferred to fire brigades as part of the Recovery and Resilience Fund’s “More Forest – Fire Prevention and Suppression Reform” program. Plan (with European funding).
ANEPC said in a statement that this is the second batch of vehicles supplied to firefighters out of 81 procured under the RDP. The first 10 vehicles were delivered in May.
ANEPC explains that within the framework of the event “Strengthening the units of the Ministry of the Interior with vehicles and operational equipment”, it was possible to purchase 81 vehicles of the VFCI and VTTF types worth more than 14 million euros and which it plans to distribute by the end of the year.
These vehicles will “increase fire departments’ rapid response capabilities, representing the largest ever deployment of vehicles to respond to rural fires.”
The delivery ceremony will be hosted by Prime Minister Luis Montenegro and attended by Secretary of State for Civil Protection Paulo Simões Ribeiro.
Rural firefighting assets returned on the 1st and were strengthened for the second time this year, with 12,096 active assets on the ground and 70 air assets.
This device will be on the ground during June, at the so-called “Charlie level”.
Combat resources will be strengthened again on July 1 and until September 30 – “Delta Level” – at this stage, which is considered the most critical phase of fires and when the largest device is mobilized. This year, there will be 14,155 operational personnel from 3,162 crews and 3,173 vehicles on standby, slightly more than in 2023.
However, in what is considered the most critical season for rural fires, 70 air assets will be deployed this year, two fewer than in 2023.
According to preliminary data from the Institute of Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF), this year, until June 1, there were about 1,200 fires that burned about 2,000 hectares.