The high temperatures in May have brought forward by a month the active surveillance campaign of the Special Forest Fire Prevention Groups in Terra Alta and Ribera d'Ebre. The teams are already patrolling both regions with mobile routes and fixed observation points to detect fires early and quickly activate extinguishing devices.
The early start comes after a rainy winter and at a time of high risk. The fine vegetation that grew with those rains has dried out quickly due to the increase in temperatures, so there is now more combustible material just as the Ebre Observatory has recorded a record 37.5 degrees for the month of May.
The record of 37.5 degrees triggered surveillance in Terra Alta and Ribera d'Ebre
The decision to activate the device earlier coincides with a fire risk map that places the entire area at a high level and the north of the two regions at a very high risk. The GEPIF have therefore reinforced observation from strategic points and elevated areas.
One of these enclaves is the Coll del Moro, in Gandesa, from where the agents control a large area of the territory. During the central hours of the day, when the temperature rises the most, surveillance intensifies.
Joaquim Miralles, head of the GEPIF team in Terra Alta, summarized the main concern about the state of the forest.
"What worries us most is that the fine fuel has dried out and there is a lot of it due to the rains in recent months, which can cause fires to advance very quickly" - Joaquim Miralles, head of the GEPIF team in Terra Alta
On Thursday, moreover, the teams alerted to a fire in Bot. To this detection task, they add the supervision of compliance with the restrictions of level three of the Alfa Plan, activated due to the high risk of forest fire.
Arnes and Benifallet will add five more personnel to the summer campaign
Surveillance is not limited to locating smoke columns. Agents also control authorized agricultural burns and other risky activities in the natural environment, in addition to informing citizens about which practices are permitted and which are restricted to avoid negligence.
In Terres de l'Ebre, the summer reinforcement will be supported by the bases in Arnes and Benifallet. Each will receive five additional personnel within the device being prepared by the Department of Agriculture.
In the region of Catalonia, the department foresees ten operational bases and 95 personnel this summer, compared to 60 in last year's campaign. Two new bases, located in Ponts and Sant Feliu de Buixalleu, will also be incorporated into the operation.
Next week, more surveillance units will enter service coinciding with the start of the harvesting campaign, while the Generalitat de Catalunya maintains its call to exercise extreme caution in a scenario of high risk of forest fires.