The state campaign against forest fires is brought forward to June 1: the prolonged continued and the high temperatures are the factors that have been taken into account by the State Committee for Coordination and Direction of the State Forest Fire Plan for advance the state campaign against forest fireswhich this 2024 will begin next June 1.
The Government has decided to advance the start of the state campaign against forest fires for the second consecutive year and this 2024 will begin next June 1 due to the current situation that combines significantly high temperatures and a prolonged drought.
The decision was adopted last Tuesday, May 7, by the State Coordination and Direction Committee (CECOD) of the State Forest Fire Plan, which was chaired by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Susana Crisóstomo. For her part, the general director of Civil Protection and Emergencies, Virginia Barcones, has already communicated the advance of the summer campaign against forest fires to the autonomous communities, which have jurisdiction over forestry matters, to adapt their respective devices and adopt the necessary preventive measures.
This advance “allows us to anticipate and be more prepared so that, si meteorological circumstances continue to complicatewe can provide a more effective response to the possibility of forest fires breaking out in different areas of the territory,” explained Crisóstomo.
For her part, the general director of Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO)Maria Jesus Rodriguez de Sancho, has highlighted the importance of prevention and anticipation in the face of these types of episodes that, due to the climate change and the situation of drought that our country is passing through are occurring with increasing frequency and intensity. «Large fires, of more than 500 hectares, increasingly affect a larger area. He water stress and the high temperatures “They make it increasingly difficult to confront them, which is why it is so important to anticipate,” he noted.
The meeting of State Coordination and Direction Committee (CECOD) prepared and activated the entire state fire-fighting device. This device includes, among others, the Forest Fire Reinforcement Brigades (BRIF) and the MITECO fleet of high-capacity seaplanes, which is operated by the 43rd Group of the Air and Space Army, and the Military Emergency Unit of the Ministry of Defense, as well as the devices that the National Police and Civil Guard organize in each specific fire. These state media are complementary to the devices organized by the autonomous communities.
At the meeting of State Coordination and Direction Committee (CECOD) Representatives of the different State agencies involved in the fire campaign attended. On behalf of the MITECO Members of the General Directorate of Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification and the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) attended. Personnel from the General Directorate of Defense Policy and the Military Emergency Unit, of the Ministry of Defense, and the Department of National Security of the Presidency of the Government also participated.
Balance of the campaign against forest fires 2023
He State Coordination and Direction Committee (CECOD) He also took stock of the 2023 fire campaign, a year characterized by the prominence of the large forest firesso called those that destroy areas greater than 500 hectares and of which a total of 19 were registered.
The meteorological situation had a direct correlation with the development of the large fires that occurred in 2023. Precisely, this Wednesday AEMET published the climate balance for April. Last month was very warm throughout peninsular Spain, with an average temperature of 13.2 ºC, a value 1.3 ºC higher than the average for the reference period 1991-2020. It was the sixth warmest April in the historical series, which began in 1961, and the fifth warmest of the 21st century.
Besides, According to provisional data from the General Forest Fire Statistics, in 2023 more than 7,700 fires occurred with a total affected area of 89,068.33 hectares.. The total number of accidents was 22 percent lower than the average value of the last decade.
According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), which is obtained through the Copernicus programme, Spain occupies third place in affected forest area, preceded by Greece (174,773 hectares) and Italy (97,595 hectares). The relative area with respect to the total of the country stands at 0.17 percent, being the fifth country with the greatest impact after Greece (1.32) and Portugal (0.40), Cyprus (0.34) and Italy (0. ,32).
Of the 378 forest fires notified to the National Emergency Monitoring and Coordination Center (CENEM), the main consequence of civil protection was the preventive evacuation of more than 28,150 people, which places the 2023 campaign in the third with the highest number of people evacuated since there are records. .
On the other hand, the death of a person in Nuñomoral (Cáceres) at the beginning of 2023 in a fire caused by the burning of stubble had to be regretted. And at least 74 people (26 belonged to extinguishing devices) had to be treated by health teams.