[EN] Aragon will «imminently» create an Emergency Agency after a summer marked by fires

Aragon has experienced a black summer of fires, in which around 40,000 hectares of land have been burned in just two months. The latest fire, and the most virulent, has been the one declared last Monday in Las Peñas de Riglos. After its stabilisation this Thursday, the President of the Government of Aragon, Jorge Azcón, has assured that, although it is not yet time to make an assessment, «it is time to reflect and act accordingly».

Although steps have already been taken in the improvement of extinguishing equipment, such as the incorporation of new personnel, the purchase of fire trucks or the signing of an agreement, for Azcón these actions «are not enough». The president said that this summer’s experience has shown that «we have to multiply the means, both in the cleaning of the forests and in the means that the brigades have to fight fires«. He also announced the «imminent» creation of the Aragon Emergency Agency.

The creation of this agency has been one of the points that the forest firefighters themselves have discussed during the rally held this Thursday in front of the Pignatelli sunsets, and which has complemented the indefinite strike called since Tuesday. For the president of the Intercenter Committee of Sarga, Carlos Martínez, more details about this organization still need to be specified to determine if it will really be useful to address the shortcomings experienced by firefighting teams.

«Nothing concrete is known about it, what bodies are going to make it up, how they are going to be integrated, how they are going to be regulated, or under what conditions and what parameters,» explained Martínez, who did not want to assess the creation of an agency «without knowing if it is going to happen or if it is going to be in the short term or not».

Rubén Arévalo, forest firefighter of the Brea helicarrier, has asked for answers from the Government of Aragon to know «what the agency is, what it intends to do, what is the objective of that agency and what it intends with the operation of prevention and extinction of fires». To deal with this matter, as well as other demands, they have requested that the regional executive sit down with the Strike Committee, something that has not happened so far, «There has been no real negotiation nor has any concrete proposal been put forward that allows progress towards an agreement,» they lamented.