By land and air the commitment of the soldiers, with the resources of Military Engineers, Disaster Prevention and Assistance and Aviation, are now constantly working on the fire that is occurring in the Berlin Paramo.
Within the framework of the Ayacucho Plan, troops of the Fifth Brigade have worked for more than 90 continuous hours by land in the assistance and mitigation of forest fires in the municipalities of Santander, hit by these emergencies, in addition to the more than 25,000 liters of water that have been dropped by air on the greatest complexity spots.
The main work at the moment lies on the Berlin Paramo, specifically in the village of Ucat谩, municipality of Tona, where the flames have consumed a large part of hectares of frailejones and other types of flora typical of the region.
There, the commitment of more than 80 soldiers of the Disaster Prevention and Assistance platoon of the Caldas Battalion and helicopters of Colombian National Army Aviation, together with the work of other relief agencies and people in general, is focused on containing this conflagration that attacks one of the most important natural resources for the Colombian northeast.
These platoons are made up of specialist soldiers and young people who serve their military service, who have worked day and night, under the inclement weather, going through temperatures from 8 to 30 degrees Celsius, to attack head-on the flames that threaten to expand due to the strong winds of the season.
Mogotes, Floridablanca, Piedecuesta and Tona have been the most hit municipalities in Santander in recent days by forest fires and these courageous men have faced the smoke, heat and terrain conditions to control and neutralize the power of the fire that devastates hectares of fauna and flora after its passage. They also are safeguarding the good physical condition of the living beings they find, in the same way preventing damages on houses near the sectors in flames.
This permanent commitment of the Fifth Brigade and its troops is continuously executing in efficient and timely manner the tasks that are necessary not only to control these fires, but in the same way to plan from now on strategies that lead to recover the environmental damage and renew the vegetation layer.
Source: Press - Second Division of Colombian National Army
