The delegate of the Government of Andalusia in Almeria, Aránzazu Martín, chaired the Advisory Committee of the Infoca Plan in Almeria, together with the territorial delegate of Sustainability, Environment and Blue Economy, Manuel de la Torre, where she explained that despite having experienced one of the summers with the highest temperatures ever known in the province, due to the new scenario marked by climate change, already structural, this campaign has not been as complicated as expected at the beginning of it.
Martín explained that «89 accidents have been recorded in the province». Of these, 17 have been fires and 72 have been near-fires, which have affected a total of 347 hectares, including 313 hectares of scrubland and 33 hectares of trees. As for the causes investigated in the forestry actions, 61.80% are mainly due to negligence, 7.8% to accidental causes and 10% were intentional.
The Committee meeting, held at the Government Delegation of the Junta, was attended by the director of the Provincial Operational Centre (COP), Rafael Yebra, technicians from Civil Protection, the National Police and Civil Guard, as well as the Provincial Council, the Delegations of Development and Health, Emergency 112, the Regional Police Unit, Firefighters, the Provincial Council, the Government Subdelegation and the other members of the Committee.
In this sense, the Government delegate wanted to thank «the great work carried out by all the people who have been part of this device». Martín assured that «the Infoca Plan is the largest contingent of human resources to which the capacities and support of the institutions and entities that make up this committee are added». He also stressed that «the new patterns and scenarios created by climate change require a joint and forceful response to safeguard natural heritage, property and infrastructure and, most importantly, people’s lives».
«Hence the Andalusian Government was aware of the anomalous situation we were going through in the months leading up to June (lack of rain and abnormally high temperatures) and, for this reason, we brought forward the High Risk Season to 16 May with the aim of avoiding risks in forest environments,» the Government delegate said. «Limiting risky activities in the mountains, added to the fact that citizens assumed their share of responsibility and understood their role perfectly, as well as the forcefulness and speed of the Infoca professionals, have resulted in the 2023 fire campaign not being as harsh as predicted back in May». «In addition,» adds Martín, «with the suspension of authorisations for burning, the number of actions has been reduced.»
Aránzazu Martín wanted to highlight «the efficiency, coordination and the good work of the system, which has served to protect the natural heritage in a very hard and complicated year due to the drought, the water stress of the vegetation and the extreme temperatures».
The Government delegate also recalled the words of the Minister of the Presidency, Interior, Social Dialogue and Administrative Simplification, Antonio Sanz, who announced that the 2024 Budget of the Junta de Andalucía has an allocation of three million euros so that, from 1 January next year, permanent-discontinuous workers of the Infoca Plan will be contracted for 12 months of the year, and thus give greater stability to the workforce.
Warning systems
Aránzazu Martín explained that «this year we have, for the first time, a fundamental tool for informing the population in the event of a serious risk: «EsAlert», better known as reverse 112. This technology allows us to send mass messages directly to the mobile phone of the population affected by a serious fire that must carry out a measure such as confinement or ordered evacuation in two languages (Spanish and English)».
In the same vein, for the second consecutive year, we have another very important tool for geolocating 112 alerts, the Advanced Mobile Phone Location (AML) system. Thanks to AML, the 112 manager who answers the call has the exact coordinates from which the emergency call was made. Thus, in case of coincidence with the location of the fire, the location of the incident is substantially improved.
We must not forget that early warning is a fundamental aspect of forest fire response. The 112 number has been the reference telephone number for alerting. From 1 January to 15 October, emergency managers in Almeria handled a total of 1429 calls related to forest and agricultural fires.
New technologies for 2024
The Government delegate has emphasised the effort in the field of new technologies, which has proved to be so important when it comes to fighting fires. By the 2024 campaign, the Andalusian Digital Emergency Network will be operational, which, in addition to Infoca, will benefit all the emergency services of the Junta de Andalucía. With an investment of 27 million euros, the new radio network, the most important of its kind not only in Spain but in Europe as a whole, will ensure the future of radio communications.
In addition, Infoca has launched the new FIRE RESPONSE management platform, to which all operational personnel (group chiefs, firefighting and operations technicians, directors and deputy directors of operational centres, etc.) will be connected. The information management platform will store maps, sketches, personnel positioning, updated fire data, etc., and will shorten access times to the necessary information on the emergency in progress, resulting in a faster response.