International wildfire response agreement signed between @fire and Portugese town
Published: 21 July, 2011
@fire International, a disaster response agency based in Osnabruck in Germany, has signed an agreement to help protect the town of Villa Real in Northern Portugal against the constant threat of wildfires in the area.
Villa Real and Osnabruck are twin towns, and @fire was previously deployed in the region during the particular heavy wildfire seasons of 2005 and 2006. Now the relationship has been underlined with a formal agreement. As part of this, @fire’s team of 11 highly trained firefighters is on standby against wildfires in the town during the summer season.
The agreement was signed on the 18th of July, by the mayor of Villa Real, Manuel Martin and Detlef Maushake, co-founder of @fire. The Fire Commanders of Cruz Branca and Cruz Verde, the district Fire Commander and Commander of the Civil Defense also pledged their respective parts in the wildfire response.
The Ceremony was broadcast on Portugese national TV, and the German wildland firefighters were officially integrated in the local response plan. After which the @fire team successfully proved its capabilities straight away, when a major wildfire broke out in the area.
@fire has been engaged in wildland firefighting since 2002, and maintains excellent working relationships with authorities, teams and organisations in the USA, Portugal, Croatia and Bolivia. @fire also provides knowledge transfer and special training to fire brigades in Germany. Training and education are based on the US NWCG (National Wildfire Coordinating Group) guidelines and regulations.
The @fire team will return to Germany Sunday, July 24, if the fire situation in Northern Portugal is maintainable by the local fire brigades.
@fire International Disaster Response Germany reg. ass. is a non-profit relief organisation which is funded entirely by donations and membership fees. All members of @fire participate on a strictly voluntary basis.
People that would like to donate to help @fire combat major fires all over globe, please click here.
