TIRANA, July 24 / ATA/ Minister of Defense, Niko Peleshi, convened the prefects, the mayors, as well as the heads of the operational structures ofcivil protection to discuss measures to prevent wildfires during the summer season.
In the presence of the director general of the Civil Protection Agency, Haki Çako, and the Chief of the Army’s General Staff, Major General Arben Kingji, Peleshi asked for better coordination of work to cope with emergencies at the local level.
Peleshi said that the Ministry of Defense and the National Civil Protection Agency have operational capacities available and are ready to respond whenever needed, but emergencies such as fires must be reported and stopped at the initial stage to prevent them from spreading to large proportions.
“We are not a country without operational capacities. We have 1,600 fire fighters throughout the country, 182 fire engines, 80 water tanker trucks, we have AF personnel and vehicles that, as you know, are at the forefront of action in every emergency, the police structures that are available, the health emergency, the volunteer network, etc.,” said Peleshi.
According to him, since one year Albania has also received great support from full membership in the European Civil Protection Mechanism.
“This means that if resources are exhausted at all local and central levels, we also have support from this mechanism that has worked for us and is one of the most efficient ever. Technology has improved. We have the drones for reconnaissance, we have the “Puma” drones that have been put into operation since last year and that provide us with very useful information in a very fast time. Also, satellite images are now an added value,” said Peleshi.
According to these satellite data, Minister Peleshi said that 125 fire outbreaks were recorded in the months of June-July, which were managed very well by the local units.
Peleshi appreciated the work done in recent years in terms of monitoring, observation and response to emergencies, adding that in some municipalities or regions this does not work.
“The summer temperatures have reached a peak, level they are hotter than last year’s. The African heatwave is expected to engulf southern and central Albania, yet no territory is excluded. We have also seen many mountain areas engulfed by wildfires last year. So surveillance system must be in place everywhere starting from the communities. Maintain daily contact with village elders, train them, ask them to notify. Early warning system is key. From experience, when the system functions properly, there are no life-threatening fires. We have countries much more powerful than us, such as Turkey, or even recently Greece, battle with large disasters, great damage to people and property. So it’s not easy, no matter the fleet of helicopters or firefighters, you can’t deal with emergencies when they take on large proportions and get out of control,” Minister of Defense said.
He also asked local representatives to put together evacuation plans.
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