VIDEO | Maksuti: Prevention should become a habit for all of us, 99% of fires are caused by human factor

Photo: Free Press / Riste Pejovski

While fires are still raging throughout Macedonia, mostly in the east, the competent institutions, local self-government, territorial firefighting units, members of the Directorate for Protection and Rescue (SSO), PE Macedonian Forests, the Army, volunteers and citizens are successfully dealing with them, as We have failed in society in the most important aspect, fire prevention, says the director of the SSO Dr. Bekim Maksuti.

- Indeed, we as a society need strongly, with a big campaign, inclusive, of all actors - to get involved and be ready at least in the coming years, and this measure of prevention to become in some way a habit of all of us. Habit in terms of reporting on time, habit and react in time, said in a conversation with "Free Press" the director of the SSO Maksuti.

He is convinced that 99 percent of the fires this summer are caused by human factors.

- In such times, when it is hot and a very hot wind blows, a cigarette butt thrown from a car if it encounters dry grass has a 99 percent chance of causing a fire and I can claim that 99 percent of all fires this summer are caused by human factors. And now the question is how much importance do we as a society attach to all this? "As we build awareness among younger generations, fire is one of the most dangerous things that can happen, which can easily get out of control," said Maksuti.

The Directorate for Protection and Rescue is one of those institutions that when not dealing with fires run active campaigns to raise awareness among people about the danger of fires. There is always room for each individual to react if they notice a small fire that can reach catastrophic proportions that even the most prepared countries with equipment, mechanization, firefighting aircraft and manpower that will fight the disaster on the ground can find more difficult to deal with.

-If any citizen sees that there is a small fire that he can handle himself, why wait for someone else from the fire brigade to intervene, or the services of JP Sumi. Let it stop with the vehicle, or on foot, it can be easily trampled to extinguish the fire so as not to cause a larger fire, because a smaller fire is always a chain process that erupts and can spread especially in the summer months when it is very hot, and additional The problem these days was the wind, says Maksuti.

According to him, currently the situation on the ground is calm, at least according to the latest reports on where there are active fires.

- There are teams on the ground, the helicopters of the ARM and the neighboring Republic of Serbia, which came to the rescue, are in operation. Teams from Bulgaria with firefighting vehicles and firefighters have been announced, as well as assistance from Slovenia, he added, and when asked why the three SSO tractors are out of order to help localize the fires, he said that the planes have not been serviced since last year. why the authorized service provider of the public call offered almost twice the price as before.

Photo: Free Press / Riste Pejovski

The three air-tactors with a water capacity of 3.100 liters, purchased in 2010 according to the director are in good condition, but before taking off from the runway at Skopje airport they must be serviced.

- There is a really misconception in the public that every fire should be extinguished by plane. It goes even further that in any fire alarm, the first request from the parties is, whether they are mayors, citizens or anyone else: How long will it take you to turn on the planes? We have to work once and for all to create a slightly different perception of this work. Why look for the most difficult, the most impossible to start if the other opportunities, instruments, activities and capacities have not been used before, the director of the SSO is decisive.

According to him, these days, after the authorization of the Public Procurement Bureau, negotiations are underway with the authorized service technicians who responded to the public call and by the end of the week the operator should be determined who will service all three aircraft to be in function of firefighting again. in inaccessible places when other localization opportunities are exhausted or impossible.

The last time the air-tractors together with the ARM helicopters extinguished the big fire on Lake Veles at the end of August 2019 when the 10-hour fire consumed over 50 hectares of pine forest.

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