An important deal
With drought and higher temperatures, due to climate change, the risk of fires is growing in Italy where in 2022 there was a +74% of fires compared to the average of the last sixteen years. This is what emerges from the analysis of Coldiretti on Effis data on the occasion of the Protocol signed, in the presence of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Emanuele Prisco and the Head of the National Fire Brigade, Guido Parisi, between the President of Coldiretti Ettore Prandini, by the Head of the Department of the Fire Brigade of Public Rescue and Civil Defense Prefect Laura Lega and the President of the Association AB-Agrivenatoria Biodiversitalia Niccolò Sacchetti to start a collaborative relationship on the fight and prevention of fires, also through the development of emergency management practices. In particular, the Protocol provides for logistical support in favor of the National Fire Brigade for the active fight against forest fires or hydrogeological risks, with farmers making spaces available for emergency vehicles and participating in targeted projects for the development of procedures for alerting VVF operational teams in case of emergencies.
The importance of speed
In fighting fires, the speed of action is decisive and it is precisely the farmers in the area who constitute - recalls Coldiretti - a natural and widespread network of surveillance, without which the bill for devastation would be much heavier, but which also exposes them to serious risks, especially in a situation where drought and high temperatures favor the rapid spread of flames. The second axis of the collaboration envisaged by the agreement concerns the support to the National Fire Brigade by Coldiretti and Ab, with possible training in favor of Vvf operators, for interventions aimed at the management of dangerous insects, such as the hymenoptera aculeati, also in order to preserve the ecosystem and biodiversity, with the safety of bees. With regard to the agreement, the President of Coldiretti, Ettore Prandini underlined that "the shared objective is to create an ecological safety infrastructure, making farmers' experience and knowledge of the places available, above all in the internal areas, to assist in monitoring and combating fires and natural disasters".
Control actions
The President of AB Niccolò Sacchetti highlighted that "the Protocol is an opportunity for companies to assist the Fire Brigade, also in an action to control the natural balance made precarious by the accentuation of climate change, in relation to the displacement of bee populations and other insects which, settled in places open to the public such as schools, must be immediately removed, with specific intervention techniques". The Head of the Fire Brigade Department, Laura Lega underlined that "the Protocol represents a qualitative leap in the management of the territories, an important partnership in the wake of the collaboration between the State, local authorities and territorial actors, intended to raise the levels of security in internal areas. A concrete alliance with those who actively work in agricultural areas which will integrate with the intense action of the Fire Brigade in the fight against forest fires and in the vicinity of inhabited areas (interface fires) which are increasingly worrying due to "climate change", so much so that it has set up several rural Presidia in the country. The attention paid to environmental protection remains high and sensitive, thanks to an innovative and favorable collaboration with the agricultural sector, which starts with the signing of today's Protocol". The Head of the Fire Brigade Guido Parisi highlighted that “the national control room will allow the coordination of excellent interventions and experiences that are already recorded at a local level. Furthermore, in the training phase, it will make it possible to overcome any difficulties and on the other hand improve the specific peculiarities of the territories”. (Source COLDIRETTI)