In a statement on 14th June, Parliament’s Observatory calls on Civil Protection to rethink a decision that will draw a lot of autonomy from key fighters in fighting large fires.
The Independent Technical Observatory of the Assembly of the Republic for forest fires warns that it was a mistake to relocate the only two heavy firefighters to Castelo Branco.
The move was announced earlier this month for security reasons at the base where they were stationed here in Seia, but according to experts in the subject will greatly reduce the response capacity of means considered fundamental in large fires.
In a document analyzing the combat device planned to respond to the flames in 2019, the Observatory makes a point of remembering that these two heavy aircraft are “unique” in Portugal, “scarce in the market, costly and have to be maximized profitability.”