Citizens mobilize to help firefighters repair broken ladder vehicle. Within days there will be an account available to receive donations. Lidador NotÃcias will support the initiative.
A group of citizens from different social and professional classes got together and created a commission to get funds to help the Volunteer Firefighters of Beja (BVB) to repair the Ladder Vehicle 30 (VE30), the only one in the region, and that is broken.
The institution does not have 60 thousand euros needed for its repair, situation that prevents corporations from the district of Beja from having this valuable aid instrument available to the populations.
Bruno Ferreira, actor and comedian, Florival Baioa, historian and leader of the Beja Deserves Movement +, Manuel Conceição “Balitoâ€, who was once director of firefighters and president of the Parish Council of Santa Maria da Feira (Beja), Fernando and Luis Palma, farmers, are responsible for the initiative.
The group will open an account at a banking institution so that everyone can make their contribution and promote various cultural and other initiatives., to raise funds for the repair of the vehicle.
Lidador NotÃcias will support the initiative and will disclose the account number and institution to which funds and cultural and other initiatives promoted by that group of citizens can be endorsed..
The VE30 was purchased in 1999, for an amount equivalent to the current 350.000 euros, with the support of the then National Fire Service (SNB), having the 20% who competed to be paid by the BVB, been supported by the Municipality of Beja. A vehicle of this type, with a ladder with 30 meters in length costs between 600 and 700 thousand euros.
The Municipality of Beja, sensitive to the situation “sent to the Intermunicipal Community of Baixo Alentejo (CIMB) a proposal for the repair of the self-ladder, for it to be evaluated by others 12 mayor, with a view to participating in the repair of the sameâ€, according to the mayor, Paul Arsenio, the document will be discussed “at the Intermunicipal Council of CIMBAL next August, imputing the percentage of population and each countyâ€, the management of BVBeja has already sent the budget to the local authority.
While BVBeja's VE30 is inoperative, Beja district corporations are deprived of a fundamental tool, in particular in firefighting in buildings or high altitude rescues. As an alternative, firefighters will have to resort to self-ladders of corporations in the districts of Évora, Faro or Setúbal.
The last time the VE30 was used by BVBeja was on the day 9 September last year, having been decisive in fighting the fire that broke out in the silos of the Cooperativa AgrÃcola de Beja e Brinches, preventing the operatives working on the self-ladder from the flames completely destroying the sunflower drying complex.
Teixeira Correia
(journalist)
