CCOO Denounces 'Deliberate Underutilization' of Forest Firefighters During DANA

CCOO Habitat PV's forest firefighters union section denounces that "the Generalitat Valenciana's Forest Firefighters Service is being deliberately underutilized by those in charge of emergency management in the Valencian Community," they state in a communiqué.

According to the union, on Tuesday, when the Valencian population was suffering the effects of the DANA, "the vast majority of Forest Firefighters (BBFF) units were withdrawn at the end of their shift as if it were a normal day." On Wednesday, October 30, "only some units were working in the emergency with the rest of the devices." And this Thursday "there has not been a massive incorporation of BBFF units to the different affected areas." Additionally, they denounce, "the Generalitat Valenciana's helitransported BBFF units have been minimally mobilized since the beginning of the DANA."

"While the professional staff of the Generalitat's Forest Firefighters Service endure this degrading situation, we see how the UME has joined the emergency from different parts of Spain, the provincial brigades, terrestrial and helitransported forest firefighters from other autonomous communities, as well as volunteer bodies," laments Antonio Criado, head of the union section. He adds that this situation "is usually the norm, even when the emergency is a forest fire."

Therefore, CCOO Habitat PV urges the president of the Generalitat, as the highest authority of the service, to "take appropriate measures to resolve this situation." Criado recalls that "the Valencian Emergency Unit (UVE), which was not allowed to form upon taking office, already stated in its Decree that the Forest Firefighters units would self-mobilize with their own commands in situations like the one we are experiencing and would coordinate with the emergency managers."