Montenegro has all the preconditions to implement a national system for early fire detection, one of the system integrators of telecommunications systems assessed for Vijesti. Radivoje Radovanović. However, a civic activist Aleksandar Dragićević says that, if we want the early fire detection system to serve its purpose, Montenegro needs additional resources to prevent the spread of fires.
The news asked the two of them, after a series of fires that were a daily occurrence this summer, as in previous years, whether it is possible to implement an early fire detection system in Montenegro, as in, say, Croatia.
This summer season there were fires in Podgorica, Bar, Nikšić, Danilovgrad, Cetinje, Kotor, Budva, Plužine, Tuzi, Petrovac...
The Directorate for Protection and Rescue of the Montenegrin Ministry of Internal Affairs literally begged citizens every day to take care of outdoor activities, due to the extremely high temperature, which exceeded 40 degrees for days. However, despite all the warnings, the fire caused enormous damage to hard-to-reach forest areas, and residential and commercial buildings burned down in numerous locations in Montenegro. Two nights ago, an elderly man died in a fire in Pljevlja.
The public is constantly talking about the fact that Montenegro needs a canard or specialized helicopters that will effectively act on burning areas in our country, that is, they are talking about how to stop the element of fire, but not about how to act preventively and effectively to prevent large fires. scale does not come.
Unlike Montenegro, Croatia has previously analyzed fires on its territory in detail, which showed that in 2016 there were 6.364 flights, 937 hours of sorties, 34.228 tons of water were released, 618.852 liters of fuel were consumed, 442 people and 72 tons of equipment were transported. . A total of 7.100 ha of forest area burned, according to the official data of the Annual Fire Reports of the European Commission. That year, the cost of fuel for the use of canards alone was about 500.000,00 euros, and for afforestation about eight times more.
The data obtained a year later, when their fire-fighting aircraft had 17.473 flights and 2.743 flight hours, alarmed them to implement an integrated fire-fighting video communication system for early detection in the area of the four most risky counties in 2018.
The report for 2022 shows that there were a total of 245 fires and 24 ha of forest area burned.
DETECTION OR VOLUNTEERS
Radovanović, who is involved in such and similar projects in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, told Vijesti that Montenegro has all the prerequisites for something similar to be implemented in our country, while Dragićević prioritizes the formation of a network of volunteers and the training of the air force fleet.
"We have a complete state infrastructure, I mean the Radio Diffusion Center and the efficient Tetra system, and I am of the opinion that in a very short time, due to the existence of all technical prerequisites, we can implement a national system for early detection of fires very favorably and in record time. Specifically, by implementing such a system, operators in a certain center would be able to detect early occurrences of smoke and fire, and therefore faster coordination of services for the purpose of extinguishing as well as complete fire monitoring. During the operational actions, they would have a prediction of further movement, and through access to the video archive and a detailed analysis, i.e. determination of the cause of the fire, culprits and reasons, and determination of the actual situation on the ground", said Radovanović.
He added that in addition to early detection of fires in the future, different supplements should be used in the extinguishing process, which have been tested and proved to be much more effective in extinguishing fires and preventing re-ignition.
Dragićević pointed out that the topography, very inaccessible terrain and 65 percent of the territory of Montenegro that is covered by forests, makes adaptation to climate change and the fight against forest fires a very challenging task for both institutions and citizens.
"The early fire detection system was installed on Luštica and on Gorica hill, but in order for the early fire detection system to serve its purpose, we also need additional resources to prevent the fire from spreading," said Dragićević.
He pointed out that it is necessary to train the fleet of the air-helicopter unit of the Ministry of Interior so that we do not have only one available air tractor at the beginning of the fire season, the purchase of new air tractors and the training of aircraft to receive water from water surfaces:
"And not like before, that at every reception they have to land at the airport and take off".
He also said that it is necessary to form a network of volunteers in all Montenegrin cities and local communities:
"With a sufficient number of knapsacks, help with the formation of new volunteer fire companies and prevention are urgent measures that need to be implemented in the years ahead to combat periods of long drought and fire seasons. "During the ban on outdoor fires, it is necessary to form a mobile drone unit to scout the terrain, and upon reports of outdoor fires, respond quickly with penalties and tighten the criminal policy and align it with European legislation," said Dragićević.
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