Civil Protection carries out about 5000 hours of forest surveillance during the summer campaign
The local group of Civil Protection of Xàbia has presented the specific memory of the forest surveillance campaign, a preventive work that this year has been reinforced thanks to the increase in volunteers.
In total, from the month of June until the end of the campaign, the 9 of October, the volunteers have dedicated 4.485 hours (compared to the 3.020 of the summer of last year).
According to the group, there has been uninterrupted surveillance throughout this period, with morning and afternoon shifts made up of four volunteers and two vehicles. In addition, the days of maximum risk of fire, it has been reinforced with a third team. The lookout points are the Granadella tower and the Cap de Sant Antoni viewpoint and the group has maintained permanent contact with neighboring municipalities to have greater control of the municipal area.
Another of the daily tasks assumed by Civil Protection is the placement of information panels with the pre-emergency level that exists in the Montgó Natural Park and daily communication with the Alicante Emergency Coordination Center to report incidents.
As for the interventions carried out by the volunteers, highlight the role played in the Rafalet fire since, together with the Local Police, they installed the Sideinfo self-protection equipment (high power sprinklers) preventing the flames from affecting the homes. They have also been part of the response devices in other fires, such as the one that affected the Rafal area, and several conatos that could be quickly suffocated.
Other Civil Protection actions
Civil Protection lists other incidents that occurred throughout the summer, such as four house fires, one vehicle, another boat and one that affected a battery of containers. Another important operation is the one provided within the preemergence for the cold drop, both in prevention and in the removal of trees from public roads or participation in road marking tasks.
Finally, the group reviews its collaboration in the attention to traffic accidents and in a search operation for people.
The Councilor for Citizen Security and Emergencies, Pepa Gisbert, has congratulated all the volunteers -there are already about 40- for the great work carried out during these months and has highlighted their important role not only at the level of surveillance, but also of rapid response in any emergency. Ella Gisbert has pointed out that the Civil Protection vehicle is always one of the first to arrive at any fire or event, which means that many near misses do not turn into more serious situations.
Also, the councilor has highlighted the great preparation of Xàbia volunteers, both in training and in their equipment, which makes them a key means in the emergency response and gives more security to the population.