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The first forest fires of this season in Béjaïa were recorded since last Saturday around 3:05 a.m.
These fires broke out around the villages Achelouf and Tala Hiba, commune of Toudja.
Hamlets, which have successively been affected over the last two years by this phenomenon to the point that the populations are traumatized. Very harsh episodes of forest fires which had ravaged and taken human lives. The two fires last Saturday only ravaged small areas of brush.
Tuesday morning, two other fires were also recorded in Bordj Mira and Ouzellaguène but they were quickly extinguished by the firefighters. “They devoured small areas of vegetation,” according to the communications officer for Civil Protection in the wilaya of Béjaïa, Latifa Medjber, whom the Young Independent contacted for this purpose.
In order to deal with fires and guarantee rapid and effective intervention, the Civil Protection directorate of the wilaya of Béjaïa launched an awareness campaign under the slogan “Together hand in hand to face the scourge of forest fires “.
Telephone numbers and toll-free numbers of all operational services in the wilaya have been communicated to residents and the general public, including those of Civil Protection, Forest Conservation, National Gendarmerie, National Security and of Gouraya National Park.
This is to allow people to report the start of fires and indicate the exact locations located in order to be able to intervene in time and prevent the spread of the flames.
Civil Protection wants to focus on prevention in order to reduce the impact of fires. Being vulnerable given the particularity of its relief and especially the density of the population residing at the edge, or even within the wooded regions, the population is one of the key partners in the fight against fires and the protection of the forest heritage of the wilaya.
In this specific case, prevention through awareness-raising seems important in order to guarantee total support of populations in the system of protection of fauna and flora.
The firefighting plan was activated several weeks ago and will last until October 31. It is based, mainly, on the mobilization of all human and material resources, coordination between the different services, developments, practical interventions and preventive awareness-raising activities in areas counted as “high forest density areas”, among others. .
During recent meetings, the head of the wilaya executive insisted on the need to “intensify awareness-raising work, in collaboration with civil society and the associative movement, for the preservation of the region’s forest wealth”.
As a reminder, simulation exercises with the triggering of an Orsec fire plan were carried out in many localities. It should be noted that the risk of fire is very high with the rise in temperatures recorded on Wednesday and Tuesday, i.e. more than 43°C in the Soummam region and a little less in the capital of Béjaïa and on the coast.
The rise in temperatures is expected to continue until today. They are accompanied by hot winds whose speed is at times between 35 to 45 km per hour. Météo Algeria had issued a level 2 heatwave BMS, two days before, for Tuesday and Wednesday.
In the Soummam valley, more than 43°C were recorded yesterday and the day before yesterday during the day and 34°C in the evening. It was only around 2 a.m. that temperatures dropped to 30°C. A wind of sand covered the sky and the horizon turned completely red, making the air unbreathable, even suffocating.