Faro, Beja and twelve other districts on the continent will remain on alert until the end of Wednesday, due to the continuation of weather conditions that increase the risk of fires, the government determined today.
The alert status starts from 00:00 this Tuesday and extends the alert status statement that had already been determined between 12:00 last Friday and midnight today.
The decision, signed by the ministers of Defence, Internal Administration and Environment, covers the districts of Beja, Bragança, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Évora, Faro, Guarda, Leiria, Lisbon, Portalegre, Santarém, Setúbal, Vila Real and Viseu.
The Ministry of Internal Administration stresses, in a note sent to the editorial offices, that, in this context, exceptional measures are implemented, such as the prohibition of access, circulation and permanence inside forest areas previously defined in the Municipal Plans for the Defense of Forests against Fires.
The same prohibition applies to forest paths, rural paths and other roads that cross them.
It is also prohibited to burn and burn leftovers, work in forest areas using any type of machinery, and use in rural areas tools such as metal blade or disc mowers, bush cutters, shredders and machines with blades or front shovels.
It is also totally forbidden to use “fireworks or other pyrotechnic artifacts, regardless of their form of combustion”.
Authorizations issued in districts declared by the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority as having the greatest risk of fire are also suspended.
In its communiqué, the Ministry of Internal Administration emphasizes that the prohibitions do not apply to work such as those related to animals and agriculture, as long as they are essential and not in forest areas, removing cork or honey (without fumigation methods for incandescent material), or non-postponable civil construction.
The declaration of the alert situation implies, for example, the increase in the level of readiness and operational response of the GNR and PSP, with reinforcement of the means for surveillance and other operations, which may be interrupted by vacations and days off.
It also implies increasing the level of readiness and mobilization of teams for medical emergency, public health and psychosocial support, or the permanent mobilization of teams of Sapadores Florestais, the National Corps of Forestry Agents and Nature Watchers.
Patrol and aerial inspection actions also increase, and workers who are at the same time volunteer firefighters may be dismissed from service or have excused absences.
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