A Embrapa Pantanal points out that the Paraguay River, in Ladário, and the Pantanal could record the biggest drought in the history of Mato Grosso do Sul in 2024. With this worrying scenario, teams from the CBMMS (Mato Grosso do Sul Military Fire Department) will be sent to carry out environmental education and forest fire prevention activities in traditional communities, rural properties and state parks. These actions take place annually.
To this end, several soldiers left the base of the Campo Grande Environmental Protection Directorate, this Tuesday morning (2), heading to the Pantanal.
Lieutenant Colonel, Tatiane Dias de Oliveira Inoue, explains that climate change is a reality faced by the State annually. The scenario of drought and fires, faced in November 2023, for example, is a reflection that work in the region must be constant, especially in 2024.
“In November we faced a very severe situation, with low relative humidity and high temperatures. Proof of this are those heat waves we had until October. So, due to these climate changes, we had this situation, of many fires in November”, he points out. According to the lieutenant colonel, this is a preparation parameter for professionals effective in action.
To enable the military to have effective tools in this combat and prevention, the State Government invested in firefighting aircraft and in the purchase of 10 drones. This equipment allows professionals to visualize, more precisely, where the fires are progressing and the combat teams are advancing.
“Every year we see that the results are positive. We understand that these fires happen all year round, because they are often related to climate issues. Our job is to look for effective responses, which allow us to reduce response times when fires occur”, he points out.
Situation Room
A support point for the military’s work is the Situation Room, which is located at the base of the Campo Grande Environmental Protection Directorate, in the Parque das Nações Indígenas. At this location, CBMMS professionals control all activities related to firefighting in Mato Grosso do Sul.
According to Lieutenant Alexandre Araújo, responsible for the demographic geoprocessing sector, this morning they used the space to inform the military personnel who will go into the field about the rules for monitoring hot spots, which could indicate a forest fire.
“This alignment is important because, with this information, we cross-reference the data with daily images and with the records we have with environmental agencies. This way, we check whether the focus is an authorized burn or a forest fire. With this, we can take steps to commit the teams to go to the location and do the fighting”, he explains.
In the room, there are several screens that allow access to daily images with satellite photos to see what the situation is like on the field. In fact, every 10 minutes the military receives information about hot spots above 47°C, which may indicate the likelihood of a fire.
