The task force has trucks, boats and ambulances from rescue units maintained by their communities in various regions of the state, which have moved to the Taquari Valley with the support of other groups from their cities and working together with the Rio Grande do Sul Civil Defense.
More than 200 volunteer firefighters from 21 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul moved to the Taquari Valley to support the State Civil Defense in the region. According to the president of the Association of Volunteer Firefighters of Rio Grande do Sul (Voluntersul), Anderson Jociel da Rosa (who is also at the scene), since yesterday teams from volunteer fire departments from the Caí, Paranhana and Serra Valleys, as well as the Rio Pardo, Taquari and Alto Taquari Valleys, Centro-Serra, the southern part of the state and the Planalto region have been working in Roca Sales and Muçum. “We have personnel from 12 municipalities working in the two cities hardest hit by the disaster. Some of the corps already had personnel in the Taquari Valley the day after the disaster and others sent some of their personnel right after they finished dealing with the torrents and floods in their cities,” says Anderson da Rosa. “Another nine fire departments are sending personnel and equipment this Thursday,” adds the president of Voluntersul, who also runs the São Sebastião do Caí unit.
The structure of the volunteer firefighters in the Taquari Valley includes teams cleaning public buildings and halls where donations from all over the state are being placed. It is in this town that Voluntersul has set up the volunteers’ eating station (in a minibus from the Riozinho volunteer unit).
STRUCTURE
“We are working within the framework of the state, but we also have the support of other groups that have come along with the volunteer firefighters,” explains Anderson da Rosa. “Like the rafting people from Três Coroas, who, together with volunteer firefighters and divers, are sweeping the river and its tributaries (having found a body this morning). Not to mention teams of jeepers and volunteer firefighters specialized in search and rescue in collapsed structures (BREC), who are working on sweeps in the cities,” adds the president of Voluntersul. The teams located two bodies between yesterday and today in the disaster zone.
The volunteer task force also has pump trucks (ABTs) with drinking water and the capacity to help clear areas covered by the mud. They also have four ambulances and rescue equipment.
The volunteer fire departments are units maintained by their own communities, following a model that is dominant in Europe, the United States and Latin America. The units are staffed by volunteers who are fully trained in firefighting and rescue operations. In Brazil, the model has been in place since 1892 (it’s 131 years old) and in Rio Grande do Sul it has been operating since 1977.
According to a report by Voluntersul, last year there were more than 37,000 incidents attended by 52 volunteer firefighting units in Rio Grande do Sul – ranging from residential fires to traffic accidents, search and rescue operations and more. This work involves more than 1,500 volunteers taking turns in daily shifts in the cities, with structures maintained by the communities.
Volunteer organizations that deployed teams to Muçum and Roca Sales:
Agudo
Arroio do Tigre
Arvorezinha
Candelária
Carlos Barbosa
Garibaldi
Igrejinha
Marau
Nova Hartz
Nova Prata
Novo Cabrais
Rolante
Riozinho
Salvador do Sul
São José do Ouro
São Sebastião do Caí
Sobradinho
Tapejara
Teutônia
Três Coroas
Vale Real