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Conaf Night Brigades Fought 320 Fires in Biobío During Last Season

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There are currently four night brigades available to the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf) for fighting forest fires in the region, which are already installed and carrying out their respective functions for this season. In the 2024 - 2025 period alone, the presence of these teams contributed to the fight against 320 fires throughout Biobío.

The regional director of the Corporation, Esteban Krause, recalled that after the emergency in 2023 "the need began to be seen for night brigades that would allow taking advantage of certain circumstances regarding fire behavior. At night, the temperature drops, relative humidity increases, and it is possible to control it faster and more effectively."

Two of the units correspond to the province of Concepción, while the other two are distributed between those of Arauco and Biobío. Although Conaf's presence is widespread across the region, Los Ángeles, Lebu, Penco, and Tomé are among the communes that have required greater attention this season.

The brigade members operate on a shift system, which in this case begins at 8:00 p.m., extending until 8:00 a.m., in shifts of seven days of work and seven of rest.

"Each one has 20 people who take turns working on this schedule, and that allows us to have 10 brigade members permanently in each of those teams," stated the director, reiterating that "our decision was to deploy all four at once, to thus have coverage across the entire region."

The objective is to prevent fires from reaching and affecting homes, infrastructure, and the safety of neighbors, as well as to generate information about the fire's behavior so that aerial and ground teams can carry out more effective work. This is also done with the support of technical personnel and permanent coordination with the Fire Department.

Source:Soychile.cl