In Amazonas, firefighters fought more than 7,500 fires from June to August

The Amazonas government has announced new measures to intensify the fight against fires that are mainly affecting the southern region of the state. From June to August this year, more than 7,500 fires were fought by the Amazonas Military Fire Department.

Among the actions is the sending of 200 more firefighters and the immediate hiring of 85 firefighters, who will join the 410 agents already working in Operation Aceiro. The objective is to reinforce the number of personnel in the field to reach 1,000 professionals during the most critical period of the drought.

The new firefighters, who will begin work next week, will be distributed primarily in municipalities such as Apuí, Lábrea, Humaitá, Novo Aripuanã and Boca do Acre. In September, 68 more professionals will be incorporated into the contingent, also serving Canutama, Maués, Manicoré and Tapauá.

In addition to increasing the number of professionals, the state government announced a 55% increase in daily allowances for employees involved in fighting the fires. The amount will vary between R$186 and R$282, depending on the role performed.

Combat actions also have the support of new equipment, such as trucks with a capacity of up to 5 thousand liters of water, recently delivered.

The Environmental Monitoring and Protected Areas Center (CMAAP) of the Amazonas Environmental Protection Institute (Ipaam) continues to monitor the affected areas using satellite images and geospatial data.

Since the beginning of Operation Tamoiotatá, which investigates environmental crimes, in April, more than 15 thousand hectares have been embargoed, and fines for crimes of this nature have already exceeded R$80 million.

During the same period, 150 arrests and detentions for environmental crimes were recorded.