Damascus-SANA – Ministry of Emergency and Disasters has launched an emergency response plan with the beginning of the harvest season, with the aim of reducing losses in lives and properties, and limiting the environmental and economic impacts resulting from the burning of agricultural crops and forests, and to protect food security.
The plan was developed in coordination with the Syrian Civil Defense Organization, fire brigades, and forest protection centers, as it covers all Syrian regions in which Civil Defense teams can operate, in proportion to the distribution of these centers, and the cultivated areas in each region.
The plan focuses on a set of axes, the most important of which are: institutional coordination with the authorities concerned at the level of Civil Defense directorates and planning, activating advanced response points, to ensure high readiness and speed in response, and enhancing community awareness and prevention.
In a statement to SANA reporter, Assistant Minister of Emergency and Disasters, Dr. Hussam Hallaq, explained that the teams concerned with the plan conducted a comprehensive study, which included geographical survey operations and collecting the necessary data, to determine the centers closest to the cultivated areas, based on previous years’ experiences.
He added that the needs of these centers for equipment, materials, and personnel were studied, evaluated, and strengthened, to carry out their tasks in the event of any fire outbreak.
According to Hallaq, the support centers in each main center were identified, as well as the safe and fast routes to take when heading for support, and communication channels were enhanced and readiness for direct response was raised, within the available capabilities for rapid response.
The Assistant Minister confirmed that follow-up operations are carried out through the formation of sub-coordination rooms in several geographical areas, operating around the clock. In parallel, a clear route plan is being developed for firefighting teams to quickly reach water sources.
To ensure high readiness and speed of response, Hallaq mentioned that it was planned to activate 36 advanced response points, distributed according to geographical risk assessment and vegetation density. These include 10 mobile points equipped with water tankers, light firefighting equipment, and trained personnel, designated for rapid intervention in scattered areas, and 26 fixed points equipped with full equipment of vehicles, water hoses, and tanks, serving as logistical support points for the surrounding areas.
Hallaq noted that work is underway to equip 26 points, and these points will be operated in cooperation with all the mentioned entities, and include Civil Defense personnel trained in firefighting and equipped to deal with various types of fires, especially wheat and barley fires, fruit trees, and mountain forests.
In a similar statement, Director of the Search and Rescue Program in the Syrian Civil Defense, Wissam Zidan, explained that these teams realize that awareness is no less important than response. Therefore, efforts in community awareness have been intensified, through the production and dissemination of awareness posters clarifying dangerous behaviors in the summer, and how to report fires, and launching awareness campaigns through social media and television.
Zidan confirmed that this comprehensive plan represents a proactive response to the risks of summer, and reflects the Civil Defense’s commitment to protecting local communities and natural resources, and the importance of integration and cooperation between various official bodies and the local community, to limit the effects of fires.
Ruaa al-Jazaeri
