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Experts from Conaf and Corma Assessed the 2023–2024 Wildfire Season

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• During the meeting, which brought together four regions of the country, the reduction in territorial impact was highlighted. The goal is to strengthen coordination and guide prevention efforts.

Enhancing preventive patrols, improving weather alerts, and strengthening nighttime firefighting are some of the priorities analyzed by over 40 wildfire experts from the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF) and companies associated with the Chilean Wood Corporation (Corma) during a working session held in the city of Concepción.

The professionals, from the Maule, Ñuble, Biobío, and La Araucanía regions, focused on four main areas: wildfire prevention and mitigation, ground and aerial operations, information management, and emergency communication.

The manager of CONAF's Department of Wildfire Protection, Pablo Lobo, valued the analysis session. "Wildfires are an issue that currently affects our country and is quite widespread. Therefore, the primary responders to wildfires are CONAF and the companies. This cooperation in various areas is extremely important, both to establish common strategies in prevention and mitigation, as well as in firefighting. Effective coordination makes our work safer and more efficient in protecting people and ecosystems," he stated.

In the same vein, the president of the Forest Protection Department of the Chilean Wood Corporation, Ramón Figueroa, emphasized the shared commitment of all involved parties, which led to positive results in the 2022–2023 period. "The strategy we implemented in the public-private sector was crucial, with strong work from authorities, governors, delegations, Senapred, and firefighters. In the south, the objective of preventing any wildfire from getting out of control was achieved," he noted.

Additionally, the executive addressed the challenges for the upcoming season. "We need to deepen and improve certain aspects, such as weather alerts, patrols, and reinforcing nighttime firefighting. We are facing a dry and cold winter, followed by a dry spring, so a coastal El Niño will demand more from this model in terms of response capacity, coordination, and the real possibility of avoiding large wildfires," he added.

For the regional director of CONAF, Rodrigo Jara, these types of meetings are necessary as they allow "identifying gaps from this season, opportunities for improvement, and correcting procedures. It is essential to always carry out these actions with our strategic partners in firefighting, such as Corma and firefighters. Thus, it has been a very interesting session where we have also been able to debate and plan better work for the next high-occurrence season in 2024–2025."

Finally, the wildfire officer of the National Operations System of Chilean Firefighters, Damián Farías, who also participated in the session, added, "We have identified some development opportunities as an institution, such as strengthening our communication and collaboration in command posts, with alarm centers, and the exchange of information and on-ground resources with companies and the National Forestry Corporation."

Source:www.soyconcepcion.cl

Photo: Conaf