Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino authorized the federal government to issue, until the end of 2024, extraordinary credits outside the fiscal target for actions to combat forest fires that affect 60% of the country's territory. Dino's decision came days after the minister ordered the federal government to call on more military firefighters to reinforce the National Force's staff in fighting the flames.
The document also points to the “increase in the number of aircraft, through use by the Armed Forces, as well as hiring or requisitioning from the private sector”.
There is also an order to “increase the number of aircraft, through the use of the Armed Forces, as well as hiring or requisitioning from the private sector (…)”. In this case, the deadline for this to be fulfilled is Friday, the 20th.
Dino's justification for allowing the fiscal target to be breached was that there would be no point in worrying about the ceiling without adequate investments to combat fire, since fires have a much greater potential for damage, "due to the erosion of productive activities linked to areas affected by fires and drought", the decision states.
According to a preliminary survey conducted in August by the National Union of Agricultural Aviation Companies (Sindag), agricultural aircraft had so far dropped at least 15,8 million liters of water against fire outbreaks in the country. This was in the North, Central-West and Southeast regions. Mainly in the Pantanal (Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul), São Paulo and Goiás.
The entity has already detected at least 50 agricultural aviation companies involved in operations against flames this year. The final survey will be carried out at the end of October, when the rains are expected to have eased the drought.
The subject is also part of the Agricultural Aviation in Firefighting campaign (which takes place in September), launched by Sindag on its social networks. Precisely to show society the work done for decades by agricultural aviation teams in protecting people, biomes and crops in this type of mission.
The STF's determination for the government to put more aircraft into action against the flames came in the Term of the Conciliation Hearing of the Claims of Non-Compliance with Fundamental Precept (ADPFs) 743, 746 and 857. In this case, processes that have been in progress at the supreme court since 2021, relating to the fires that occurred in the previous year, throughout the country.
Sindag says it did not survey the performance of agricultural aviation against the flames in 2020. But it is possible to get an idea of the leading role of the agricultural aviation sector that year based on data from the following season. In 2021, when the number of outbreaks was 18% lower in the country, agricultural aviation launched 19,5 million liters of water against the flames. This was in 10,9 thousand fire attack maneuvers, totaling more than 4 thousand flight hours to protect firefighters, nature reserves and crops in the country.
It was the year that the episode became known in which the aircraft of one of Sindag's members saved a family from the flames that were about to reach the residence where they were staying. An example of situations that are repeated every season – and of how many lives are saved by the joint work of firefighters on the ground and with air support.
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