The acting president, Karin Herreraand authorities from the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred) and the Ministry of National Defense held a press conference this Friday, February 23, to announce the control actions before the forest fires that are registered in different parts of the country.
At the beginning of her statement, the official assured that the Government is attending to all these emergencies and the institutions in charge are working with all their experience to face this situation.
“We are in the fire season and it is our obligation to report that, in the last few hours, an increase in the number of these has been reported,” said Herrera.
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In this context, he indicated that he dedicated this day entirely to supervising the work carried out by the Conred system in response to incidents. Among the places visited are: Totonicapán; Tecpán Guatemala, Chimaltenango; and the Agua volcano, in Sacatepéquez.
The official shared that on a national scale there are more than 2 thousand people who make up the crews that fight the fires.
#NOW At a press conference, the acting President, Karin Herrera, talks about control actions against forest fires. She points out that the Agua volcano is 60% controlled. pic.twitter.com/QFn1fobdDJ
— Emisoras Unidas (@EmisorasUnidas) February 24, 2024
Hard work to put out fire on the Agua volcano
Regarding the emergency in Sacatepéquez, he noted that since 4:00 a.m. this Friday, brigade members were deployed again to the area. The crews have increased and today 741 people and 67 vehicles were working.
In addition, 144 flights and more than 32,100 gallons of water were managed by air to put out the fire.
According to Herrera, until yesterday afternoon there was 40% control of the fire in the Agua volcano and for this day it is already projected to be 60%, which, in his words, represents a sample of everything. the effort and dedication of the reaction brigades.
#NOW Claudinne Ogaldes, Executive Secretary of Conred, points out that the help they have requested consists of personal protective equipment pic.twitter.com/TLrDq19xCt
— Emisoras Unidas (@EmisorasUnidas) February 24, 2024
International help to control fires
The acting president pointed out that, after discussing the operational capabilities of the Conred system, the decision was made to order the Executive Secretariat to manage all the necessary support at the international level.
He explained that, although the country’s capacities have not been exceeded, the task is to guarantee that the fires are controlled in the shortest possible time. For this reason, aid was processed with the United States, China (Taiwan), Mexico and Honduras.
@emisorasunidas897 Relief bodies support the actions to combat the large fire on the Agua volcano. Video: Departmental Municipal Firefighters. . . #Fire #WaterVolcano #Conred #ForestFire #Guatemala
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United Nations agencies have also cooperated, providing tents, hydrating fluid, food and personal protective equipment, as well as private initiatives, through various contributions.
Separately, Herrera pointed out that Conred’s orange alert remains active, which maintains the full availability of State resources to deal with forest fires.
#Government #explains #forest #fire #situation #country
2024-02-26 19:54:22