The three fire brigades in the municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão - Bombeiros Volunteer Firefighters of Famalicão, Famalicenses Volunteer Firefighters and Volunteer Firefighters of Riba de Ave - will have one more Permanent Intervention Team (EIP), increasing their ability to respond to any urgent situation and emergency registered in the municipality.
The proposal for the signing of the protocol between the City Council, the three corporations and the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC) for the creation of a second IPT in each of the corporations was approved at this Thursday's meeting of the municipal executive.
Until now, the financial support given by the City Council for the operation of the EIPs, created in 2009, was around the maximum amount of 105 thousand euros per year. With the creation of these three new teams, the municipality's support doubles, and can now go up to a maximum of almost 210 thousand euros per year.
The Mayor of Vila Nova de Famalicão said yesterday that the City Council "must always be available to go further when it comes to the safety and protection of the famalicenses". Mário Passos clarified that these new teams "will reinforce the work done by the already existing EIP" and that "the territory is now more and better equipped with means to help the population".
It should be noted that the Permanent Intervention Teams ensure compliance with the missions that, within the scope of the Civil Protection system, are assigned to the fire brigades, permanently ensuring firefighting, assistance to the population in case of accidents or disasters, assistance in second intervention, within the scope of pre-hospital emergency, minimizing risks in situations of forecast or occurrence of serious accidents, among other functions.
In addition to the support given to the EIP, the City Council has an intensive policy of support for its Fire Brigades, granting an annual subsidy, in monthly instalments, of 90 thousand euros to each of the three corporations and 42 thousand euros to the Red Cross Centre of Ribeirão, in a fundamental financial effort to ensure effective, permanent and rapid responses to help the population.