Brazil: Sao Paulo on Alert Due to the Expansion of Forest Fire
Fire in Pantanal, Brazil Aug 2024 Photo: @AFP
August 25, 2024 Hour: 8:29 pm
There are currently 21 cities facing active fires. Federal government sends planes to deal with the casualties.
The government of Sao Paulo, in southwest Brazil, declared a state of emergency in 45 cities of the state, while planes were sent by the federal government to counter the fires that are raging in that territorial entity.
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The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) announced the landing of the first aircraft at 23H55 (local time) at Ribeirão Preto airport, a KC-390 Millennium, Also developed for fire control in a context where a national record was set on Friday with more than 2,300 fires in the state.
Meanwhile, according to the Civil Defence Emergency Management Center (CGE) follow-up, there are currently 21 cities facing active fires. In total, 46 municipalities are being monitored and on high fire alert.
“Coordinated by the State Health Secretariat and the Clinical Hospital of the Medical School of Ribeirão Preto (HC-FMRP-USP), the package of actions presented to the 26 municipalities of the region provides for the expansion of telemedicine services, with HC doctors who will be available 24 hours a day to guide health teams and refer the most serious cases to referral hospitals,” the Government emphasized in its emergency plan.
According to the Minister of Integration and Regional Development, Waldez Góes “following the instructions of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with the objective of supporting the actions of the state of Sao Paulo in combating the fires that affect dozens of municipalities of São Paulo, We request the Ministry of Defence to mobilize support with aircraft to combat and monitor the affected areas”.
The Minister of Environment, Marina Silva, said that “the number of fire outbreaks, cities on high alert and the progress of destruction and risks highlighted by INPE require rapid and coordinated responses among all levels of power”.
In this regard, the correspondent of Telesur in Brazil, Nacho Lemus pointed out that the Government of Sao Paulo had warned about dense and toxic smoke and harmful to the environment and human health with impacts on the respiratory system and cardiovascular irregularities.
“In two days the state recorded almost seven times more fires than in the whole month of August 2023. This Friday the smoke from the interior of São Paulo and southern Minas Gerais was added to that coming from the Amazon”, he said.
Autor: OSG
Fuente: Nacho Lemus-Brasil de Fato
