CAT Sorriso forms a Task Force to raise awareness about fighting fires in Sorriso

Dry seasons bring with them an old acquaintance from the Central-West region of Brazil: fires. This phenomenon happens every year, damaging the quality of the soil and air and bringing consequences for the residents of Sorriso. This week of World Environment Day, celebrated this Saturday (5/6), CAT reinforces a campaign to preserve and maintain natural resources.

According to data from Inpe (National Institute for Space Research), in 2020 Brazil recorded 222.798 fires, compared to 197.632 in 2019, an increase of 12,7%. The Pantanal, for example, was one of the biomes that suffered most from fires last year, when there was a 200% increase compared to 2019.

In order to combat and carry out educational actions to combat forest fires, CAT Sorriso and other civil institutions formed a task force to alert society during this period of drought.

“Everyone’s awareness is essential to combat forest fires in this period of drought, the problems are countless both from a financial and health point of view, causing respiratory diseases”, says the president of CAT Sorriso, Dudy Paiva, who at the last year he was one of thousands of fire victims. On that occasion, she had 90% of her farm engulfed in fire.

Various training courses are being carried out in the region in partnership with CAT, Civil Defense and the Fire Department. Last week, for example, Fazenda Centro da Mata was the stage for training on combating forest fires.

“Employees understand that the native forest is part of the greater good and they had the opportunity to learn about techniques and actions in practice. The teachings left the theoretical field and are now part of these people's daily lives”, says Julia Ferreira, Agricultural Engineer and Certification Group Manager at CAT Sorriso.

Investments in prevention and training are continuous, with the help of appropriate technology and equipment. Fazenda Centro da Mata acquired forest fire PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) for its employees, in addition to having a team specialized in using drones to monitor areas.

“The Farm made an important investment, creating support points, purchasing materials and equipment suitable for use by the forestry brigade, thus being trained and prepared to combat and mitigate any fire risks. With trained firefighters, satellite images and the help of drones, we will constantly monitor the farm during dry periods in order to detect any initial outbreaks of fire', states the management of the Centro da Mata farm.

Awareness campaigns involve many entities and must be a joint effort. In this sense, the work of the Task Force aims to raise awareness among the community of the importance of acting in an articulated manner, with action planning and combat strategies.

“The importance of this work is very great. Preventive education is essential when fighting forest or land fires. The fire doesn't wait, we must be prepared. The structure we have here is not much, but we do our work with a lot of love and dedication. Fighting day after day to support this fight”, says Fábio dos Santos, coordinator of the Civil Defense of Sorriso, highlighting that before the most critical period of droughts, more than 50 fires had already been recorded in the region.

Fires alter, directly or indirectly, the physical, chemical, morphological and biological characteristics of soils. Not to mention the increase in the greenhouse effect, the reduction in air and water quality, and the impacts on the health of the region's residents.

This Task Force will work to raise awareness on several fronts in Sorriso: training and training with farm employees, educational campaigns and meetings with various institutions. 

CAT Sorriso is yet another supporter of this cause and uses the institution's facilities to promote healthy debate and actions to combat forest fires. After all, the dry season is just beginning and the support of society as a whole is needed in this battle.