For three days, a platoon from the UME (Military Emergency Unit) of Valencia will train in Sierra Espuña to exchange information with technicians, environmental agents and forest brigades from Alhama and Totana.
The Region of Murcia will become a testing ground for forest fire prevention in natural areas for the next three days. A platoon from the Military Emergency Unit (UME) of Valencia, made up of 20 soldiers with a light vehicle, three fire engines, and a truck, will train in the Sierra Espuña Regional Park alongside technicians, environmental agents, and forestry brigades from Alhama de Murcia and Totana.
The acting Minister of the Environment, Mar Menor, Universities and Research, Juan María Vázquez, received the UME platoon today and pointed out that "the objective is the exchange of information and experiences useful for extinguishing forest fires that may occur in natural areas."
As on previous occasions, the Third Emergency Intervention Battalion (BIEM III) of the UME, whose headquarters are in Bétera (Valencia), will carry out a reconnaissance and positioning exercise to gather information in the fight against forest fires, while deepening the knowledge of the territory and experiences of the fire-fighting devices deployed in the area.
The forest fire fighting brigades based in Totana have new facilities and the coverage of the Sierra Espuña Regional Park is reinforced with a rapid intervention brigade.
The BIEM III's area of operation encompasses the Valencian Community, the Region of Murcia, and Albacete. Its general capabilities include fighting forest fires, floods, heavy snowfalls, and other meteorological phenomena, as well as earthquakes and landslides. Its specialized capabilities include underwater rescue, specialized rescue in heavy snowfalls, urban search and rescue, confined space intervention, and helicopter rescue.
“This time, the aim is to further deepen our understanding of areas at particular risk of wildfires in order to shorten response and intervention times,” explained the acting Minister of the Environment. The selected municipalities are Alhama de Murcia, Totana, and Mula, “with the objective of gaining a more in-depth understanding of the Sierra Espuña Regional Park area, while also learning about the organization and operational procedures used in the Region,” specified Juan María Vázquez.
Reinforcement in the Sierra Espuña Regional Park with a BIR
The regional government is making progress in consolidating an infrastructure network to support wildfire prevention and suppression efforts, given the extreme conditions the region has faced since last May. This infrastructure enables the proper functioning of the wildfire prevention and suppression operation and serves as the base for the ground-based and helicopter-borne forestry brigades.
With the completion of improvements to a facility provided by the Totana City Council at the municipality's Emergency Center, forest firefighters can now begin using it. Specifically, the improvements provide the municipality and the Sierra Espuña Regional Park with a suitable space for two Forest Brigades. This space will serve as a base for the 12 firefighting specialists who comprise the brigades during the high-risk season, as well as for the environmental agents who are on duty daily. The project represents an investment of €127,437, funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).
Infomur Plan
On the other hand, during the high danger period of the Infomur Plan (June to September), the Ministry of the Environment maintains an active rapid intervention brigade (BIR) that provides coverage to Totana, Alhama, Mazarrón, Lorca, Águilas and Cartagena, supporting the existing forest brigades.
The Rapid Intervention Brigades (BIR) are rapid mobilization teams that carry out surveillance and deterrent activities, participate in preventative operations and outreach efforts, and provide support to the entire unit. The Totana BIR consists of a four-person team and will operate for the four months of the high-risk forest fire season.
This is in addition to those already deployed in Murcia, Caravaca de la Cruz, Cieza and Mula, made up of teams of four people who can be quickly mobilized and who have light vehicles with a tank capacity of 400 to 800 liters, under the command of an environmental agent.
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