2023-04-27 04:19:00
“We have not been able to identify where the focus is, but we can say that there is a smell of smoke, the city is covered, visibility is reduced and there is a lot of cloudiness in the environment.” This was said by the meteorologist and broadcaster of the National Meteorological Service Cindy Fernández to the Télam agency, a few days ago.
Later, the expert confirmed that the smoke came from a fire in the Uruguayan department of San José. “The fire has been active since yesterday and the easterly wind moves the smoke towards the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires,” she said.
From 2019 to 2021, more than 7,300 fires were registered, which affected at least 2,417,764 hectares in Argentina, according to the numbers reported by the provinces to the National Ministry of the Environment. But the area burned astonishingly increased, hand in hand with the La Niña climatic phenomenon, in an uncontrollable ascent.
Indeed, according to those same official records, during 2022 and the first quarter of 2023 the burned area increased until it far exceeded everything accumulated only between 2019 and 2021.
Similar data is propitious – not sufficient – to make visible the dedication, courage and solidarity of our volunteer firefighters (youth, women and men). Also to express our respect and gratitude to the relatives of firefighters killed, injured or singed, for magnanimously integrating brigades in which they risk even their own lives in every fire in the mountains, mountains, plantations, houses, establishments or vegetation that still remains. green, between us
Simultaneously, our firefighters develop prevention and clarification programs that include explanations in educational establishments about satellite images and measurements, drones (available for permanent preventive and anticipatory surveillance of fires) and applications of similar purposes for mobile devices and tablets. In addition, they characterize the conditions and location of combustible geographies in autochthonous and implanted wooded spaces, with determination and probability of the danger indices according to determinable or foreseeable adverse climatic events.
Currently, the accentuation of climate change, with its unprecedented manifestations or phenomena, the burning of pastures caused by intentional fires by locals, the lack of care on the part of occasional visitors are the main causes of all the fires that have been drastically and significantly reducing the quantity and fertility of Argentine soils and neighboring countries such as Uruguay, denting traditional intergenerational roots, productive luxuriance and original beauty of natural landscapes.
So, how can we not highlight that each volunteer firefighter, with admirable cooperation and nobility, risks his life in each igneous feat? They battle in unequal conditions and without all the necessary equipment against unforeseen and often intractable fires, which in an inclement way have been affecting different geographies with greater frequency and ferocity, with its consequences in terms of uprooting, infertility, loss of productive spaces, sources or jobs and affectation of regional economies.
Faced with so much human nobility, the serious disregard for our volunteer firefighters denotes our pettiness and ingratitude, as well as a certain civil indignity that we have unrepentantly naturalized.
The owners of such public and private destruction are, after all, those who were and will be managing to save lives, fauna, biodiversity, natural resources and homes.
Our volunteer firefighters amaze for their civil solidarity, altruism, courage and empathy with others; notwithstanding any functional deficiency, adverse primary, secondary or tertiary infrastructures (rural roads, gravel roads, etc.) and our customary inconsideration, ignorant underestimation and lacerating social ingratitude.
The truth is that only sporadically we admire, move and proudly amaze our volunteer firefighters. But clearly it is not enough with pompous acts and occasional speeches or medals and circumstantial applause. Much less with cynical placebo subsidies.
It is not enough when, in fact, the benevolence of the firefighters (not only putting out fires, providing help, rescue and protection to the community during accidents or any other type of accident or emergency), is still at the mercy of God paying it off.
* Expert in cooperativism from Coneau
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