Bid to end ‘friendly fire’
Town halls will have to ensure fiestas do not cause forest blazes
The regional government is legislating to prevent traditional fiestas causing forest infernos. The move comes after fireworks have ledto fires when rockets have fallen in woods.
THE REGIONAL government is legislating to prevent traditional fiestas causing forest infernos.
The move comes after firework displays have led to fires in some municipalities in recent years when rockets have fallen in wooded areas.
A spokesman for the Socialist/Compromís coalition said the provincial parliament had approved a modification to articles 146 and 147 of the region’s forest law. Their objective is to find a solution which ‘takes into account traditional cultural activities while ensuring a proper protection of the forests’.
The spokesman noted that the old law did not mention use of fireworks, burning of effigies or any other actions with fire in or around forested areas. However, ‘fire or gun powder are central protagonists in many traditional fiestas in the Valencia region’, which often take place during the dry summer months.
“The regional government considered that it was necessary to revise the law, taking into account the risks which exist over the location of some of these events,” explained the spokesman. Town halls will now have to ensure that sufficient fire prevention measures have been taken to ensure wildfires do not break out.
Council chiefs will have to carefully consider where to stage an event, ‘minimising the risk of fire, or the spreading of fire to nearby forested areas’.
Events using fire or gunpowder which take place within 500 metres of a forested area will have to be granted special permission from the regional department for the environment, agriculture and climate change, meaning town halls will have to apply each year for a permit.
When the location for the event has been decided, this will noted in a public register and the council will have to state that it meets all fire pre- vention criteria.
Once this has been done, the local authority will have to apply for insurance to cover all risk associated with the event.
Additionally, the regional government has ruled that if there is a high risk of fire (a level three alert) then no such fiesta can take place and it would have to be postponed.