A new Air Means Center (CMA) will start operating on Wednesday in São Brás de Alportel, in the Algarve, an infrastructure to operationalize firefighting and Civil Protection resources in the region.
Located in the municipality of São Brás de Alportel, this year the new center will accommodate the air transport teams that were assigned to the centers of Loulé and Cachopo (Tavira), both in the final stages of works.
Speaking to Lusa, the Algarve regional commander of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority, Vítor Vaz Pinto, considered the new space of “great importance, as it allows the mobilization of resources and air means, and to operate from there”.
“It is a space that has infrastructure for any exceptional situation. Not only as a helicopter base, but also as a concentration and reserve area to preposition resources, serving as an indispensable logistical support base for any Civil Protection operation”, he noted.
According to Vítor Vaz Pinto, the Civil Protection “had been thinking about this solution for a long time” to operationalize firefighting means, since its centrality “guarantees the protection of areas that were attached to the centers of Loulé and Cachopo”.
Completion of the construction of Centro de Means Aéreos de Cachopo is scheduled for the end of July, while work to expand the base of helicopters in permanent service from Loulé should only be finished by the end of October.
“So, the solution was to open a solution in São Brás de Alportel, which had the support of the Chamber, which provided all the logistical support, of the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), which in due time provided support to license the infrastructure, and the Institute of Mobility and Transport (IMT), which ceded the land”, he pointed out.
According to the commander, the Civil Protection, in addition to a light helicopter, will create conditions to place a second aircraft between July and September, the period of greatest operational commitment, "which allows for two helicopters for initial firefighting".
“On the other hand, the heavy bomber helicopter will also be allocated there, which will start its activity on the 1st of July and which will end on the 30th of October”, he added.
According to Vaz Pinto, the new infrastructure allows “some comfort, because it is ample space and an asset to allocate and prepare the means to use in any exceptional operation, fires or earthquakes”.
The project for the new CMA in São Brás de Alportel was carried out by technicians from the municipality, in coordination with Civil Protection, who adapted the space in the Maneuvering Park to operate civil protection and rescue means.
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