A total of 19 vehicles, of which 12 are fire trucks and 7 rapid intervention or pick-up trucks, is the device that the Ávila Provincial Council contributes to the Infocal Plan of the Junta de Castilla y León for the campaign against forest fires in this summer. An endowment that shows the collaboration of the provincial institution with the municipalities and with the regional administration through the eleven groups of volunteer firefighters and the 23 Civil Protection groups of the province.
The president of the Diputación, Carlos García, has assured this Thursday that the commitment with the Board also materializes with the delivery of 100,000 euros of aid for the provision of materials and with the 35,000 euros that are allocated to Civil Protection groups, as well as as with the “revisions” to the vehicles and the delivery of the necessary materials.
He explained that it is the same allocation as last year, except for the six vehicles that were incorporated and delivered to the groups a few months ago. In addition, it announces that “in the coming months” they will acquire another five vehicles so that the groups of volunteer firefighters have the best “possible” material so that they can be available to help fight effectively against a “scourge” that has attacked much to the province in recent years. In this sense, García wanted to send an awareness message to forest fires, considering that this year the combination of heavy rains in March and April and the vegetation can be a “quite harmful” formula for the coming months.
The president of the Provincial Council of Ávila has advanced the progress towards the implementation of the five county parks in the province located in Arévalo, Arenas de San Pedro, Cebreros, Sotillo de La Adrada and Piedrahíta. Thus, it has been anticipated that at the end of June, it is expected to have the definitive draft of the execution projects of the four newly built regional parks and work is being done on the different specifications for the award of five fire trucks and five other rapid intervention vehicles, which will be added to the seven fire trucks that were awarded a few months ago. Therefore, the service will have 17 vehicles in 2023. In addition, he also points out that the idea is to try to put out the tender for the construction of the parks at the end of the summer, within the package of eight million euros of investment.
In this sense, Carlos García explained that when the regional parks and the new protocol are in place, the work has to be “fully complementary” with the volunteer firefighter groups. Hence, the provincial institution will continue to work with them effectively, as with the Civil Protection groups, considering it “essential”.
Óscar Arribas, a member of the Provincial Support and Rescue Group (ARPA), appreciates the support of the Provincial Council and the Board and points out that the importance of volunteer groups lies in “being in the area” and that implies being “in the first line» when an incident occurs. “Then if it is more serious, we have the advantage that we advise the professionals when they arrive and we have things ready for them so that they do not waste time,” he specified. With some 140 volunteers throughout the province, each one with their specialization, Arribas points out that he hopes that this summer’s campaign will develop “better than last year’s”, something that “you have to learn from,” he said. . He also advocates that people “be aware of what to do on the subject of barbecues.”
