Quito Ecuador: Contigency plans in place for upcoming fire season

ecuadortv.ec/Lautaro Andrade Castro (machine translated) / The Mayor of Quito, Mauricio Rodas , presented the afternoon of this Tuesday May 30 the plan of the Municipality to face the summer and drought season of this 2017. The city begins to enter the time of year when it does not rain and the heat And wind spread fires.

After a winter period that caused havoc in the capital, Rhodes raises more prevention and care for what will be a very hot months.

The Mayor reported at a press conference that $ 3.4 million was allocated for the acquisition of “new specialized technology” in the equipment of firefighters and in prevention measures.

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“In total we will have more than 1 352 municipal troops ready to attend emergencies in the dry season,” said Rodas. Quito will also have 182 vehicles, of different types, to provide assistance in the event that it is required. The main innovation is a rescue helicopter.

“It is designed to reach the most difficult areas , precisely to combat fires effectively and rescue injured, added the Burgomaestre. The air vehicle has a capacity for seven people and has already been employed by the Fire Department in the last three months, even rescued four people.

The Municipality also developed an atlas of risks to know the most vulnerable points to a forest fire and distribute logistically resources to prevent them. In addition, there were five observation towers in the city, 604 video surveillance cameras, 52 forest traffic lights, 161 park rangers and 60 forest firefighters.

“It is designed to reach the most difficult areas , precisely to combat fires effectively and rescue injured, added the Burgomaestre. The air vehicle has a capacity for seven people and has already been employed by the Fire Department in the last three months, even rescued four people.

The Municipality also developed an atlas of risks to know the most vulnerable points to a forest fire and distribute logistically resources to prevent them. In addition, there were five observation towers in the city, 604 video surveillance cameras, 52 forest traffic lights, 161 park rangers and 60 forest firefighters.

According to the Secretary of Security of the Municipality, the wind speed has increased . The National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology also agrees with a higher wind record until September. The season “will be very intense. We expect very dry months with little rainfall, with strong winds, “Rhodes said.

The Mayor’s recommendation to citizens is to avoid burning trash in forbidden places and, above all, to report to the arsonists.

The city went through one of the hardest winters in the last 30 years , with at least 957 reports of floods and floods in various parts of the city.

The commander-in-chief of the Quito Fire Department, Colonel Eber Arroyo, recalled that the years 2012 and 2015 were the most critical in terms of forest fires, so it is expected that 2017 will not reach the same levels of burning of hectares.