Fires: Civil Protection owes more than half a million euros to firefighters

A Portuguese Firefighters League (LBP) warned, this Monday, that the Civil Protection owes more than half a million euros to the fire brigades, a debt relating to the forest firefighting device that lasts several years.

The president of the LBP, António Nunes, told Lusa that the League questioned the humanitarian associations of volunteer firefighters about the amount owed to the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) under the Special Device for Combating Rural Fires (DECIR ).

“At this point it is already 620 thousand euros”, said António Nunes, stressing that the debt is capable of “reaching one million euros”, as all fire brigades have not yet responded.

According to LBP, these debts under DECIR are mainly from 2022 and 2023, but there are also some that date back to 2019.

António Nunes explained that “these are extraordinary expenses that must be paid and that have to do with the expenses presented by the fire departments and that ANEPC did not pay”, being essentially related to damaged materials and vehicle repairs.

“The debts are very varied, but they are not current expenses”, he stated, stressing that the LBP is now alerting to this situation, as there are 15 days left until the first reinforcement of firefighting resources within the scope of DECIR.

And he highlighted:

“I think it is very bad that someone starts another fire season asking for additional effort from associations, fire departments and firefighters, without paying off expenses from previous years”.

The president of LBP also said he hopes that the new Government will provide more precise guidance to ANEPC “to fulfill its commitments”.

The Lusa agency contacted ANEPC about these debts, but so far has not received a response.