In Mato Grosso do Sul, firefighters have been adapting to climate change to face fires in the Pantanal and are counting on the help of technology to carry out their work. Drones, for example, have become an indispensable tool for the military.
This year, ten new devices with high definition cameras were purchased to reinforce the work of the Mato Grosso do Sul Fire Department, as explained by Corporal Victor Barbosa Lima.
“We can monitor things in real time. We can measure, for example, the extent of the fire and guide the team on the ground fighting it.”
What also increased was the number of training teams, which rose from three to six. They are soldiers who bring firefighting knowledge to the Army, environmental institutes and riverside communities.
“Not only in the response phase do we have to be active, but, mainly, in the prevention phase. So, year after year, we have been studying which dynamics give the best results. And we understand that the preventive part is essential.”, emphasizes Lieutenant Tatiane Inque.
Twenty more vehicles will reinforce the fleet. Four aircraft are on standby. A center with satellite images monitors hot spots across the state in real time.
This advance preparation for firefighting in the Pantanal is common. What is different this year is the volume of teams, equipment and action strategies. The changes, according to firefighters, are to adapt to changes in the climate, which, year after year, have made it increasingly difficult to combat fires in the biome.
Lieutenant Tatiane recalls that in the last 5 years the state has faced very severe forest fire seasons due to climate change. “So, there are more days without rain, high temperatures, wind speeds even above 65km/h. And this has led us, year after year, to restructure and replan all our possibilities as a fire department and also in the fire committee that we have here in Mato Grosso do Sul.”
Last year, fires destroyed one million and 557 thousand hectares in the Pantanal – equivalent to one million and 557 thousand football fields – almost 400% (391%) more than in 2022 according to the Alarms system of the Environmental Satellite Applications Laboratory of the UFRJ and there is no rain forecast for the next few months in the biome.
According to Guilherme Alves, meteorologist at Climatempo, the trend for autumn is for temperatures to remain above average. “El Niño will continue to influence these first two months – April and May. And the trend, especially in the Pantanal, is for temperatures to be above average over the next few months. Since the beginning of 2024, we have had three interesting heat waves that have raised temperatures; When we look at rain, the trend for autumn is below average rain and we have already seen this characteristic throughout the summer,” he explains.
